Dell has teamed up with China's largest mobile operator to develop a smartphone, a spokeswoman for China Mobile said on August 18, in a deal that would mark the U.S. computer giant's debut in the market.
The Dell device will support China Mobile's online application store Mobile Market, a website allowing the company's smartphone users to download applications for mobile phones.
The online store, unveiled on August 17, currently supports 10 smartphone models, including handsets from Nokia, Samsung Electronics, LG, Dopod and Dell, the spokeswoman said, adding it "will definitely support more brands in future."
A Dell smartphone could help the PC maker tap China's burgeoning 3G market.
China Mobile, tasked with operating a 3G network based on the nation's TD-SCDMA technology, had more than 493 million subscribers in the world's largest mobile market as of the end of June. The company's smaller rival, China Unicom, is in talks with Apple Inc. about selling the iPhone in China.
China's Lenovo, the world's fourth largest maker of personal computers, is reportedly developing the oPhone, an iPhone lookalike.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
