Vodafone to sell own-brand handsets

Vodafone Group PLC will this week start selling it's own brand of handsets made by Sharp Corp and Matsushita Industrial Communication Co, reported the Wall Street Journal citing Vodafone chief executive Chris Gent and a spokesman.

Chief executive Chris Gent said the company has ordered all the camera phones that Sharp and Matsushita are making for the European market, the paper reported.

A company spokesman said the company has ordered 500,000 handsets from Sharp for sale across Europe, but declined to say how many phones have been ordered from Matsushita under the brand name Panasonic, according to the paper.

The launch of the Vodafone-branded camera-equipped handsets will accompany Vodafone's launch of picture messaging, the paper said.

Vodafone helped design the software in the Sharp phone and it will be cheaper than its rivals in other European markets, said the paper.

Vodafone's early promotions for the new Vodafone Live suite of services feature the Sharp phone prominently.

It said it will sell Sharp's GX10 model, which it has exclusively until the end of March next year, for around £200 (€317) in the UK with network contracts.