MWg looks to shake-up smartphone market

Aims to gain traction by offering unrivaled customer support

Daniel Robinson, IT Week 09 May 2008

A new mobile device vendor has launched in the UK, promising business customers better service and support, with a focus on repairs and upgrades.

Mobile and Wireless Group (MWg) is a start-up headed by the former management team of O2 Asia, which closed last year, using investment from UK reseller Expansys. The firm said it aims to carve out a niche by delivering a better user experience and customer support.

Chief executive Mark Billingon said that MWg's focus would be on design rather than competing purely on technical features.

"The specification is there in our devices, but it's about looking at the way they are used and giving the user a better experience," he said.

Billington said he believed MWg could take advantage of the fragmented smartphone market, and believes there is an opportunity for a vendor that pays close attention to customer requirements. "It's still early days, and we obviously have to build ourselves a reputation for quality," he added.

MWg's products are based on Windows Mobile, with the first UK devices the Atom V, a touch-screen phone with built-in GPS and HSDPA; plus the Zinc II, a handset with a slide-out qwerty keyboard for messaging, set to ship later in May.

Roger Butterworth, Expansys chief executive and MWg chairman, said that repairs were a major issue that often cropped up in feedback from customers.

"Most vendors outsource repairs, and so after-sales care has become an afterthought. With MWg, we took the decision to repair in-house, covering not just warranties but repairs outside of warranty as well," he said.

MWg's roadmap includes a slimmer successor to the Atom due in Q3 2008, plus a device aimed specifically at the enterprise market due in Q4. This will be called Flame II, and is likely to include support for HSDPA up to 7.2Mbit/s, 128MB memory, plus a large 3.5in screen that will have VGA (640 x 480) or SVGA (800 x 600) resolution.

Butterworth said the higher resolution allowed for greater clarity where diagrams are embedded in documents, but such screens were costly. "We have yet to decide if it is worth it," he said.

The Flame II is expected to cost about £350 when it ships.

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