O2 posts stellar results in Middle East

This move follows on quickly from their impressive debut into the Middle East market in May 2006.

Within 6 months, the company has gone from strength to strength in various GCC markets, particularly United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain and Kuwait. It has launched the Xda Atom and the limited edition Xda Atom Pure and the Xda Atom Exec, with the Xda Stealth to follow this month.

The Xda Atom and the Xda Atom Pure were the smallest multimedia PDA-phone at launch in May 2006. The company followed this a few months later with the Xda Atom Exec, O2's most powerful device to date. The Xda Stealth offers the ease of use of a mobile phone with the full functionality of a PDA device. All devices run on the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.

Addressing an audience at Gitex 2006, Mark Billington, CEO of O2 Asia Pacific & Middle East said,

"O2 devices are built for style and performance. Our promise to customers has always been to deliver great products with innovative technologies relevant to their lifestyle. With the help of Microsoft, we have been able to deliver on that promise time and again."

Strong sustained partnership with Microsoft

O2 pioneered the converged device market with Microsoft when they launched the revolutionary O2 Xda back in 2002. Since then, both companies have worked hand in hand to introduce cutting-edge technologies and roll out work and lifestyle solutions. The revolutionary O2 Xda II mini, for example, was instrumental in popularizing the converged device to a mass audience when it was launched in the Asia Pacific region in December 2004. Recognized as the world's smallest PDA-phone at the time of its launch, the Xda II mini helped O2 and Microsoft reach out beyond male professional customers to include women, young socials and trendsetters as well.

Microsoft decorated O2 with the Asia Fastest Growth Award for Pocket PC phone as early as May 2005.

"O2 has been a continuous innovator on Windows Mobile since they launched the world's first connected Pocket PC on our platform in 2002. It's now great to see this partnership successfully extended to the Middle East," said Marianne Roling, Director, Mobile & Embedded Devices Division, Microsoft Corp. "These devices are defining a whole new category of phones with a range of entertainment and productivity options - whether it's about playing multimedia on the move or managing email using Mobile Outlook, we're dramatically broadening the choice for customers."

Successful debut in the Middle East

Since its entry into the GCC market in May, O2 has aggressively grown its presence and market share. With the partnership of distributors Unitec Trading in UAE and Bahrain, S2 in KSA, and Square Distribution in Kuwait, O2 now enjoys up to 85% retail coverage, including key mobile shops, IT shops and hypermarts.

The company looks set to take on a bigger slice of the Middle East mobile market pie through the appointment of a new Regional Manager and staff next month, as well as a stronger focus on the enterprise sector.

Staying ahead of the technology curve

O2's momentum will continue in 2007 with the launch of at least 8 more products, starting with their latest 3G range of devices - Xda Zinc, O2 Graphite and Xda Flame in Q1 2007. The Xda Zinc, built for the communication enthusiast, offers enhanced efficiency and ease of messaging with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, 520MHz Intel processor, built-in Wireless LAN, and unique applications like O2 Phone Plus and O2 Message Plus to make communications a breeze.

The O2 Graphite looks just like a regular mobile phone, but under its deceptively modest hood sits a really hot engine. Users can enjoy video telephony and web-browsing capabilities on this 3G Smartphone. A 2.0 mega pixel camera, Wireless LAN and Direct Push Email technology ensures customers can work and play with ease and simplicity.

The Xda Flame encapsulates everything the O2 brand stands for - innovation and performance in a sleek, beautiful, desirable package. The Xda Flame breaks technology barriers by being the first dual processor PDA-phone, incorporating the powerful NVIDIA GoForce GPU for sublime screen graphics, movie playback, photo viewing, and gaming performance, on top of a 520MHz Intel processor chip. A large 3.6" VGA touchscreen and a host of multimedia features ensure that customers stay productive and are entertained while on the go.

O2 has plans to launch also a range of original accessories next year, including an original Bluetooth stereo headset that weighs only 15 grams. All accessories will carry the O2 hallmark of style and substance.