China Mobile Becomes First to Sell Dell Mini 3i Smart Phones

(Business News & Technology News, 25 Nov 2009)

China Mobile will soon become the first mobile operator to sell the Mini 3i, a sleek and slim new multi-touch smart phone from Dell designed to leverage the power, flexibility and applications of China Mobile's new OPhone and Mobile Market platforms. Available in Red Passion and Oiled Bronze colors, the Mini 3i will begin arriving through China Mobile’s nation-wide channels (its authorized stores) by the end of this month and Dell direct to follow.

The Mini 3i runs China Mobile’s flexible OPhone open source platform, and includes the latest in popular entertainment including pre-loaded 139Mail e-mail, Fetion chat and digital maps for navigation. A large 3.5-inch widescreen creates a big-screen experience, making photos and videos bigger and more intense. The Mini 3i is also compatible with a range of consumer applications, e-mail platforms, and office productivity software.

“People today want to carry their lives with them – they want to discover, capture and share new content as they roam around the world,” said Michael Yang, vice president and general manager for Greater China Consumer of Dell. “We believe Dell’s year-long development collaboration with China Mobile will amplify those experiences better than anyone else in the industry.”

“This signals an important milestone in the long term partnership between China Mobile and Dell,” said a China Mobile spokesperson. “We are excited for Dell to be among the first manufacturers to introduce new technology based on the OPhone platform. We look forward to working with Dell as it brings innovative new products and services to add value to our customers’ lives.”

The Mini 3i is the result of a year-long collaboration with China Mobile and further illustrates Dell’s ongoing investment in smarter and more mobile products. China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile service provider with more than 500 million subscribers, teamed with Dell earlier this year to develop a new product for the rapidly growing base of mobile broadband users in China, embedding 3G technology in the Dell Mini 10 netbook.

With the recent launch of the OPhone platform, industry analysts are estimating that the current base of 180 million mobile broadband users in China will continue to grow at a rapid pace. The Mini 3i is specifically engineered to give those customers a smart phone that delivers fast, easy and fun access to the internet, e-mail, chat, music and video.