PCD (www.personalcommunicationsdevices.com) provides wireless communications devices including handsets, PocketPCs, smartphones, messaging devices and wireless broadband modems to carriers throughout North and South America. PCD offers branded wireless devices from leading manufacturers as well as those that are sold under private carrier labels. The company also provides technical and customer support.
PCD was part of the old UTStarcom which was taken over by AIG and split up the handset business into this new company. My first comment about the company is the name. While PCD is an okay name, who decided on the domain name!?! A 28 character domain name makes typing email and marketing campaigns a nightmare! Perhaps this is what happens when financial people take over and inject their ideas into a consumer products company? I even did a google search to find the initial website and it doesn’t show up. And it’s because the three words are too generic. Perhaps that is part of the theme of the company? Since they do not create label their own products directly to the consumer, only mobile operators need to be concerned. But if I overlook the company name, they actually have quite a number of products. From the briefing I had at CTIA, they provide a turnkey solution for brands and mobile operators for sourcing mobile devices that can be customized for any mobile operator. They believe in a joint development process for each model of handset and will take care of the logistics, certification, box experience, even the vendor and manual. Let’s take a look at two different devices that they make.
One of the hip devices they have launched is the Verizon Blitz (TXT8010). It’s targeted for teens who like to have a full QWERTY keyboard to text. It also is a music player, digital camera and more. The slider design is pretty slick and is a device looking at, despite it’s quirky rounded square shape. I’m sure RIM is keeping a close eye on this against their Pearl line of Blackberry devices.
The second set of devices that they produce are the popular USB data modems. The prices have definitely dropped since I first use an EDGE card a number of years ago. The monthly data plans have also come down as unlimited data plans are becoming very popular. From the picture above, even small US mobile operators (3.3M subscribers) like Cricket Wireless are offering data cards.
As mobile phones are a hot market, it seems like good timing for PCD to be doing business. The question remains for them at what point might they decide to become a brand instead of white-label source for handsets. HTC emerged from the same status, so I’m sure plenty of people will be watching like me to see when they make the move.
