CANNES, France, Feb. 14, 2005 — At the 16th annual 3GSM World Congress today, Flextronics (NASDAQ: FLEX) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) announced Peabody, a GSM/GPRS mobile phone platform designed and integrated by Flextronics based on Microsoft
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Windows Mobile (TM) software. Available only to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Peabody is a low-cost, feature-rich Original Design & Manufacture (ODM) platform developed by both companies. Peabody can be brought to market quickly, cost-effectively and at high volumes.
Flextronics is one of the largest mobile phone manufacturers worldwide and is the leading Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider. The company’s extensive ODM mobile phone development experience makes Flextronics a strategic partner for the creation of a complete ODM mobile phone platform, such as Peabody.
“As mobile phones become increasingly customized consumer products, OEMs are under pressure to produce low-cost, feature-rich phones that address the demands of this growing market,” said Tom Deitrich, vice president of ODM Products, Flextronics. “Through ODM mobile phone platforms such as Peabody, Flextronics is providing OEMs with a cost-effective way to quickly expand their product lines and respond to market demands.” He added: “Flextronics designed the Peabody platform based on Windows Mobile software, which delivers the substantial functionality required by OEMs while providing the flexibility for quick customization.”
As a Window Mobile-based device, The Peabody mobile phone platform offers OEMs access to more than 18,000 applications for product line customization. These applications enable OEMs to meet the needs of their varied customers, ranging from businesses looking for vertical integration applications and messaging solutions to consumers seeking the latest in music, video, pictures and gaming possibilities.
“Flextronics’ record of delivering highly integrated mobile phone platforms to markets around the world gives our joint OEM partners a strong go-to-market ally for smart devices,” said Suzan DelBene, corporate vice president of the Mobile and Embedded Devices Division at Microsoft. “Our joint strengths allow us to deliver innovative and customizable device solutions based on the Windows Mobile platform that can be deployed quickly at competitive price points.”
This collaboration is further evidence of growing traction for Microsoft’s mobile offering, with Flextronics now delivering Peabody Windows Mobile-based devices globally. Flextronics also announced that it is developing a product family of devices based on next- generation Windows Mobile software for deployment on GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks.
About Flextronics
Headquartered in Singapore (Singapore Reg. No. 199002645H), Flextronics is the leading Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider focused on delivering innovative design and manufacturing services to technology companies. With fiscal year 2004 revenues of USD$14.5 billion, Flextronics is a major global operating company that helps customers design, build, ship, and service electronics products through a network of facilities in 32 countries on five continents. This global presence provides customers with complete design, engineering, and manufacturing resources that are vertically integrated with component capabilities to optimize their operations by lowering their costs and reducing their time to market. For more information, please visit www.flextronics.com . For more information on the Peabody please contact [email protected].
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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