CHINA: Mobile game service released with blockbuster movie

CHINA: Mobile game service released with blockbuster movie

Mtone wireless pioneers interactive mobile game service 'Cell Phone'

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

China Mobile's products are prominently featured in the current Chinese hit film "Cell Phone" which opened in Beijing on December 18, 2003. The following press release is reprinted with permission from PRnewswire.com. 

BEIJING, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- These days, even China's movie industry is looking for ways to leverage the tremendous growth in SMS messaging.
   
Mobile entertainment company Mtone Wireless Corporation announced the release of its new SMS game service for mobile phones today, named Cell Phone. The release of the game coincided with yesterday's release of blockbuster film director Feng Xiaogang's New Year's celebration movie, also named Cell Phone, of which Mtone is a co-sponsor.
   
It is estimated that China's SMS market is 25 times larger than its movie industry. China's mobile market will grow from 250 million subscribers in 2003 to 402 million subscribers by 2007.
   
"We anticipate continued strong profits for SMS messaging," remarked Victor Wang, CEO of Mtone, "For the younger generation, sending short messages has replaced making phone calls as the 'cool' way to communicate. A new consumer demographic is emerging in China, known as 'data high end users,' who spend a significant portion of their income on SMS. This demographic is growing rapidly and represents a significant revenue source for the mobile industry."
   
"We would like to congratulate Mtone on the debut of this exciting new game service," remarked the Vice President of China Mobile, Lu Xiangdong. "We have enjoyed a very fruitful collaboration with Mtone, and our shared understanding of the development and prospects of the SMS industry have shaped our partnership. Establishing a value chain with SPs such as Mtone is a win-win situation for both parties."
   
Lu Xiangdong also said SMS has become a hot and growing industry. In 2002 alone, China Mobile's customers sent over 78.3 billion messages, and it is estimated that this year, the number of messages sent will soar aggressively. Games with enhanced functions and interactivity are developing at breakneck speed and have become an important new trend among SMS users. China Mobile
hopes that the release of the "Cell Phone" game service, from Mtone Wireless, will mean nothing less than a breakthrough for the SMS market.
   
Headquartered in Santa Clara, California with its operations located in China, Mtone Wireless Corporation offers SMS subscription-based services to China's mobile market. SMS subscribers are able to use a variety of Mtone services that are in demand in a growing mobile market in China, such as "Bubble Boy" -- a virtual pal service, and "Legend of the Three Realms" -- an exciting SMS RPG game that creates an entirely new mobile social network. The company provided the first commercial wireless stock trading and information service in China in 1998.  Currently with over 5M paying users, the company is a pioneer and leading provider of mobile phone entertainment services in China.

Feng Xiaogang, director of the movie Cell Phone and the hottest commercial film director in China, started to make a series of highly acclaimed "New Year Celebration Movies" in 1996, the last of which grossed over RMB56million at the box office. His English/Mandarin comedy Big Shot's Funeral (2001) starring Donald Sutherland received great reviews and made a name for Feng in the West.
   
China Mobile is the largest provider of mobile phone services in China with nationwide operations in China.  It has over 160M mobile users in China.
   
Mtone is a co-sponsor of the movie "Cell Phone" with China Mobile, Motorola and BMW.

Date Posted: 1/2/2004