Current developments of the telecommunication market in the People's Republic of China - domestic companies vs. foreign companies

In China a tough competition in the mobile-phone business has evolved between western-like global operating companies and domestic chinese telecommunication companies. The battle is about market shares in the rapidly growing market of mobile phones in the PRC. Mobile phones, or in chinese “Shouji”1, become increasingly popula r, especially in the so-called boom-areas where mobile phones have become a status symbol like in other western countries so that people own 2 or 3 or even more mobiles whereas in rural areas the development of mobile communication networks still goes ofte n against zero. The purpose of this essay is to show up some facts about the PRC´s telecommunication market, to introduce the reader to the most important foreign and domestic companies doing business in this market, to show up the current situation of both types of companies in China, and to analyse some reasons for the recent market development. Claas Bartels, Holger Wenk and Michael Mahlich are alltogether students at the Business Faculty of the “University of Applied Sciences and Arts” in Hildesheim, Germany, studying the field Business and Administration with specialisation in Controlling, Finance, Accounting, Taxation, IT and International Business. 1 A mixture of the chinese characters for „hand“ and „device“