NEC launches super-slim flip phone
The handset, which features a 1.3-megapixel digital camera, is less than half an inch thick when folded. Photos: The world's thinnest foldaway?
The phone is less than half an thick when folded, making it slimmer than an AA battery. It's equipped with a 1.3-megapixel digital camera, 1.9-inch color display and music player function, the Tokyo-based company said Wednesday.
NEC also plans to offer the mobile phone soon in Italy, Australia, Russia and China.
NEC declined to comment on expected retail prices or sales targets for the handset, which works on GSM/GPRS networks, widely used in Europe and Asia.
NEC, a pioneer of high-speed third-generation phones, is the largest cell phone supplier in Japan's domestic market, with a 16.2 percent share in the first half of 2005, according to research company Gartner.
But it holds only a small percentage of the global market, lagging far behind overseas giants such as Nokia and Motorola.
Shares in NEC closed up 0.97 percent at 623 yen, outperforming the Tokyo stock market's electric machinery index, which gained 0.53 percent.