SINGAPORE, Feb 9: Handset maker and Internet telephony company Spice i2i Ltd will start using Android technology to boost its earnings, according to media reports.
Announcing this in Singapore, B K Modi, promoter of Spice Group, said the Singapore-listed Spice i2i made losses because of the management failure to react rapidly to technological development.
Modi told the Securities Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS) that management teams of the company’s subsidiaries in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand had been slow to react to changes to technology.
Spice i2i caters to the cheap handset market primarily in Indonesia and India, according to a report by The Straits Times today.
It had launched two smart-feature phone models in Singapore in January last year, priced at less than USD 100.
SIAS, the watchdog representing investors, had questioned Modi over S i2i performance and his family dominating the board, the report said.
SIAS has scheduled a dialogue session with S i2i shareholders on March 5, 2013.
The company ended the first half of the year at December 31, 2012, with a net loss of USD 21.7 million compared to net loss of USD 50.5 million previously.
The six month revenue was USD 316.6 million, down 34.4 per cent from USD 482.76 million a year ago.
Modi said the management teams of S i2i have been changed while his daughter has resigned from the board.
Modi said he was searching for a director with an appropriate level of industry know-how, and assured SIAS that that the independence of the board was “paramount”.
Meanwhile, Si2i has named Gurvinder Pal Singh, 52, its new chief financial officer from Feb 15, 2013.
He is CFO of Si2i Mobility Pvt Ltd of India and takes over from Kul Taran Singh Anand, 55, who has resigned. (PTI)
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