SHARP to unveil China-specific mobile handset

Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp will launch the SH9010c, its first mobile phone targeted towards the Chinese market, in China by the end of June, China Business News reported. The SH9010c is similar to the Sharp 920SH Aquos widescreen phone on the Japanese market. It has a 3.2-Megapixel camera, but sharp has removed the 3G and the One-Seg digital mobile TV functionalities because those functions are not supported in China. It uses the WCDMA 3G standard, which is not yet in commercial use in China. SHARP mobile phones have topped the Japanese market for three consecutive years with a market share of 24.3% last year. Sharp announced its plan to sell its mobile phones in China in March, after many Japanese mobile phone manufacturers such as Panasonic, NEC and Kyocera had pulled out of China's handset sector.