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Published on September 22, 2007

"At a preliminary estimate, our sales will probably be 20 per cent below target, though up on last year," vice chairman Puttachart Rungkasiri said. The company's civil suit against Samsung will be decided this quarter, she said.

The company lost Bt63 million, mostly from Samsung's failure to

provide financial support for promotional campaigns as promised, she said.

Sam Corp, set up specifically by TWZ to be the exclusive distributor of Samsung mobile phones, early this month filed a police complaint against Samsung's managing director Kwang Kee Park and general manager Chung Jun Kim, accusing them of fraud.

Sam Corp has terminated the distribution contract with Samsung in writing, she said.

To offset the damages TWZ will seek new partners.

"We have contacted mobile-phone manufacturers and got a [wholesale] deal from Nokia, which I believe will replace Samsung's handsets as Nokia now dominates the market with 54 per cent," she said.

"We are in negotiations with other manufacturers and hope to launch next month," she said.

A Samsung source confirmed that the company had received the letter from Sam Corp.

According to Stock Exchange of Thailand data, TWZ posted first-half net profit of Bt127.23 million on revenue of Bt2.91 billion.

Siriporn Chanjindamanee

 The Nation