SCOS Background & Problem
Situational Summary: Shanghai COS
Shanghai COS Software Company, Ltd. (SCOS) is a relatively new entrant to the subscriber identification module (SIM) card market. As a young and growing company in a high technology market, it must choose how to most effectively concentrate its resources within a market that is both highly competitive and expanding at a phenomenal rate within China (the primary marketplace of SCOS). Shanghai COS is able to compete within this market because it believes that it has superior research and development capabilities, having already been able to design an entire product line of SIM cards from the low to high end within one year (with an average development and design time of about three months work for each SIM card). Currently SCOS functions within both the high and low end of the market with the differences in the products in each market primarily reflecting the memory structure and functionality of the cards in terms of capabilities such as internet and email access.
The first projects undertaken by Shanghai COS reflect its ability to cater various parts of the market, and has so far included primarily low end chips, with final product qualification underway for more advanced components.
The Chinese SIM Card Market
The SIM card market within China is predicted to grow at a rapid rate, reaching upwards of 100 million subscribers with an annual revenue stream of $200 million dollars. Currently there are 12 SIM card providers within China competing within this marketplace. SIM card developers in China follow a model of “upstream” and “downstream” players, with research and development partners such as Shanghai COS handl ...