Carphone Warehouse (CPW) has withdrawn from the Swiss mobile market and announced a decision to sell its entire Swiss operations to dominant operator, Swisscom for an undisclosed amount. Swisscom will add the 62 shops from Carphone Warehouse's Phone House Switzerland unit to its existing network of 110 stores.
CPW is retaining its fixed line and insurance sales businesses in the country, and did not give any explanation for its decision to offload the mobile phone retail chain.
"The step makes sense," Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Thomas Germann told Bloomberg News in a phone interview from Zurich. "Swisscom is trying to differentiate itself from Sunrise and Orange through direct customer contact."
The move pitches Swisscom's retail holdings to the number one position, ahead of independent dealer, Mobilezone.
The 62 branches of The Phone House Switzerland will be transformed into Swisscom shops in stages from 1 May 2008 onwards and will exclusively sell products from the Swisscom range. Swisscom envisages consolidation in a limited number of locations and sales support functions. The company therefore envisages a relatively small number of job reductions, which will be absorbed as far as possible by natural wastage and reducing external capacities.
The transaction is wholly unconditional and completion will take place on 1 May 2008.
Posted to the site on 20th March 2008
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/30020.php