Introduction:
Gail Heck-Sweeney
General Manager of Agilent China Communications Operation
of Agilent, in charge of development, marketing and technical
support for communications product
Gail Heck-Sweeney has many experiences at HP and Agilent
Technologies in many areas including sales and marketing,
product, maintenance and measurement and developing.
She has been serving in Agilent offices in important positions
in Palo Alto CA, South Queensferry Scotland, Spokane, Washington,
Amsterdam the Netherlands and Hong Kong and now works in
Beijing.
Mario Narduzzi
Marketing Manager of Agilent China Communications Operation,
currently working in Beijing
In the 25 years in Agilent, Mario Narduzzi devoted to electronic
measurement and took principal market management positions
in many departments relating to radio frequency and microwave.
Since working in China last year, he participated in the
construction of radio frequency microwave products marketing
department of China Communications Operation. Before that,
Mario Narduzzi has worked in Santa Rosa California United
States, taken the position of marketing manager of Radio
Frequency Signal Source Project Department (5 years) and
manager of Products Planning Department (3 years).
Interview:
China is an Important Market of Agilent
Wang Jing:
Thank you for having this interview with us. Currently,
TD Forum is having a series of executive interviews, issued
under the cooperation with China top Internet portal Sina.com,
to help the public have first-hand knowledge of your considerations,
plan, products and future strategy about TD-SCDMA. In the
recent days, we have published two feature executive interviews,
one with Dr. Tao Xiongqiang of Potevio and another with
General Manager Mr. Mingto Yu in Great China Region of MediaTek
Inc. Agilent is the first foreign company and also the first
measurement instruments and meters enterprise in our interviews.
It is not an easy decision for foreign companies to invest
in TD-SCDMA industry in China. Yet Agilent has paid attention
to TD-SCDMA and also devoted to it since a long time ago.
Firstly would you please give us a simple introduction on
Agilent¡¯s business?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
I am very glad to have this interview with TD Forum, we
can see that there is Agilent's great building in Beijing.
And actually Agilent does not take itself as a foreign company.
Our company is an absolute testing and measurement company.
We emphasize particularly on two fields of electronic testing
and measurement; life and chemical analysis. Agilent's building
in Beijing can hold 1.1 thousand people. We have sales department,
marketing department, administrative department and developing
department in this building. Training facilities and open
laboratories for the public are also included.
As a leading testing enterprise, Agilent has subsidiaries
in more than 110 countries and regions around the world.
Our headquarter locates at Santa Clara in the United States.
Wang Jing:
When did you enter China?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
We entered China first in 1979. Actually our business in
China began even before President Richard Nixon's visit
to China. The agency in China was set up formally in 1981
and the legal entity was granted. Agilent China is a local
registered company and we also have a joint-venture in Chengdu.
Wang Jing:
In my impression, all foreign enterprises have to experience
a long period of localization to really survive in China.
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
Because China is an important market, Agilent made investment
in China very early. It is our goal to join local markets
as soon as possible. As you know, Agilent was split from
Hewlett-Packard. As the largest department of HP, electronic
testing and measurement department was divided from HP and
became today¡¯s Agilent.
Wang Jing:
So your company entered China since HP period. As a testing
and measurement company, what is your share in the worldwide
market?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
Agilent is the biggest test and measurement instruments
company in the world.
We Believe TD-SCDMA Will Be Used
in China
Wang Jing:
In telecommunication field, what are your principal products?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
In telecommunication field, we have an entire set of instruments
and we provide simulators, R&D instruments, signal generators,
signal analyzers and multi-functional testers. Our products
cover almost all producing and developing fields. At the
same time, we also cooperate with Chinese system integration
providers to develop more products for companies with special
requirements.
Wang Jing:
Currently TD-SCDMA value chain has formed completely, but
some segments are very weak, especially that of testing
and measurement. As a foreign company, Agilent is a leader
in testing and measurement, but it is not an easy decision
to invest in TD-SCDMA industry, and we must make clear the
market direction before invest. I wonder from when Agilent
began to make effort in TD-SCDMA industry seriously.
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
Agilent invested in TD-SCDMA market developing and product
developing since the fall of 2001. At that time, we began
co-operate with CCSA (China Communications Standards Association)
and started investing in TD-SCDMA industry. As far as I
know, Agilent is the first testing and measurement company
developing TD-SCDMA product. We provide TD-SCDMA developing
simulation software first, following we introduced TD-SCDMA
developing instruments, such as signal sources, spectrometers
and etc. We know that there are many business opportunities
in the world, but the question is how to choose a chance
that can create the greatest profit. We believe that the
future of TD-SCDMA future is bright.
Wang Jing:
Agilent is the first testing and measurement foreign company
joining TD-SCDMA technology forum. Is your TD program carried
out at the Development Center in Beijing?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
We have a Development Center in Beijing supporting the development
of technology and products worldwide, and TD-SCDMA is certainly
included.
Mario Narduzzi:
Taking TD-SCDMA as an example, for each segment of TD-SCDMA
value chain, there are Agilent instruments supporting, including
the producing and developing part.
Wang Jing:
Is there a special organization or department in charge
of TD-SCDMA business?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
We provide an entire platform supporting our various solutions
and TD solution also bases on this platform.
Mario Narduzzi:
All of the software platforms and hardware platforms were
developed in R&D Center in China.
Wang Jing:
Did you add an application for TD-SCDMA to the existing
developing platform?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
Yes. Nowadays everybody concerns how to develop different
technologies and applications on a platform with continuity
and consistency.
Wang Jing:
So is your developing platform and products multi-mode?
In your developing platform, if all the testing instruments
can reach the multi-mode testing requirements?
Mario Narduzzi:
We provide the same hardware platform and realize different
application with different software.
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
In fact, this is a problem concerned much by customers and
such solution is well accepted by customers. Different technology
applications are realized with different software while
hardware platform is not frequently changed. We are also
the first company that adopts this mode in the field, which
is followed by imitation of other companies.
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
Yes.
Wang Jing:
Has Agilent prepared products supporting TD-SCDMA testing
network and commercial use?
Mario Narduzzi:
Certainly we have an entire set of TD-SCDMA products including
signal simulation software, signal source spectrometers
and multi-testing adjusters. Actually I am proud of this,
Agilent is the only testing and measurement manufacturer
which can provide an entire set of solutions. And we believe
that China will make commercial use of TD-SCDMA successfully,
thus Agilent¡¯s investment is never stopped.
Wang Jing:
When did Agilent first provide TD-SCDMA instruments?
Mario Narduzzi:
Actually we already have the ability to provide signal demodulation
software in 2002. And at that time, Datang Mobile was just
established. We carried out products developing and improving
rapidly and co-operated closely with Ministry of Information
Industry. Agilent company executives took TD-SCDMA as an
important strategy in China market.
Wang Jing:
TD-SCDMA will enter commercial use stage. So I believe that
for the field of TD testing and measurement, companies like
yours still have many business opportunities.
Mario Narduzzi:
Regarding the TD-SCDMA network construction of the eight
commercial used cities, we have provided a lot of testing
and measurement devices to China Mobile and Ministry of
Information Industry as standardized measurement instruments.
From base station to terminal, our instruments play positive
roles and excellent capabilities all the time. Because we
are the first company providing TD-SCDMA test and measurement
solution projects in the world, we have many valuable experiences
to help us solve problems better.
Wang Jing:
Regardless of Agilent and Agilent products, does your confidence
in TD-SCDMA industry come from opinion of high level officials
or are you still riding on the fence to wait and see if
TD industry can really prosper?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
We think Chinese market is of great potential. Here are
great business opportunities. We observed that China is
a real market and we will devote into this market actively.
We believe that TD-SCDMA will be widely used in China. We
have been in China for 1 year and I called on many Chinese
customers in last 1 year. I know that there are still various
problems on network optimization, radiation, and terminal
currently, but I still believe that TD-SCDMA will be commercially
used in China.
Challenge, Competition and Risk
in future
Wang Jing:
Where is your competition from? Compared with domestic and
foreign manufacturers, what are Agilent¡¯s advantages?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
When enter a new technology field, we have excellent sales
and technical support all around the globe and customers
purchase not only a single machine, but also our human resource
and support. We provide the best customer support in the
world from software to hardware, maintenance, and post-sales
service all-round support. The risk of our customers¡¯ investment
around the world has been reduced. Therefore customers always
become our partners, rather than a simple relationship between
customer and provider. That is our advantage.
Wang Jing:
According to the market scale, how does Agilent decide to
invest its capitals and researching power?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
Agilent follows the development of new technology and chances
all the time and we always make investment 3 years in advance
or longer. We discovered in our researching on the cycle
system of an industry that in many occasions, it requests
to provide corresponding test and measurement facilities
before the R&D of a technology started, therefore it
needs more time to adapt to market requirements for testing
and measurement instruments companies. We become one of
the rare companies in the world that can forecast the market
direction precisely. So it is valuable to be aware of the
entire industry chain.
Mario Narduzzi:
The proportion of TD-SCDMA on the market and that of the
other two 3G modes W-CDMA and CDMA2000 are not accordant
at all. So on this point, it is not a problem of how to
make investment, but how to take risks, and we hope to get
reward in the future.
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
At the same time, we observed that in Taiwan, South Korea
and Japan, the competitiveness of TD-SCDMA has been shown.
I think there are still many chances, especially in China
and the neighboring Asian countries.
Wang Jing:
Can you provide some names of general customers?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
Regarding the commercial network testing of TD-SCDMA industry,
almost all the manufacturers and companies participating
in the network testing are our customers, and we provide
devices to satisfy their test requirements.
Mario Narduzzi:
For example, you can see our products in the repeater testing
held by China Mobile and there are also a lot of products
in other repeater companies like Comba.
Wang Jing:
It seems that Agilent brand is competitive in the market,
but do you feel that sometimes it requests to sacrifice
the profit margin for fierce price competition?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
To be frank, our price is not the lowest.
Mario Narduzzi: An important challenge is that the cost
of mobile terminal is declining sharply; therefore as a
test and measurement instruments company, we must face pressure
to find a way reducing cost for customers. At the same time,
we also consider how to reduce our cost of production and
researching to bring more values for customers.
We co-operate with lots of TD-SCDMA software developers.
In Beijing, as a leading testing and measurement company,
we always exert ourselves to provide the obvious information
that Agilent will devote to TD-SCDMA industry support and
investment. Our EXA signal analyzer has been already enabled
with TD-SCDMA test and measurement function and this product
is an example proving that we can provide help on the whole
value chain.
Wang Jing:
We hope that Agilent will also become the best test and
measurement companies in TD-SCDMA. You also observed that
there are local companies in this field, and what do you
think is the challenge facing with local new rising companies
standing on Agilent¡¯s point?
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
We think that the technical barrier is weaker and weaker,
while the cost of challenge is greater and greater. For
new rising companies, they need to purchase various devices
at high price, therefore cost reducuction becomes the key
point for success and comparatively, technical developing
has not been the bottleneck of survival. In China, both
technical human resource and knowledge have reached a high
level, thus adapting capability to technology is on the
rise. But the greater challenge is how to provide products
that satisfy various manufactures¡¯ requirements.
Mario Narduzzi:
I think for some of the new rising companies, the deep accumulation
of R&D and technology always become their development
barrier. Actually we can transform the support providing
for customer and the strong researching power to huge resource
and values which can be used by customers.
Wang Jing:
We are very glad to see that excellent companies like Agilent
joining in the construction of TD-SCDMA industry, just as
you said; Agilent has become a Chinese company. Agilent
provides not only TD-SCDMA products, but also technical
support, thus I also believe that TD-SCDMA will have a bright
future in China.
TD-SCDMA already proved in a short time that it can coexist
with the other two 3G standards in the world. This is a
communications standard with an autonomous intellectual
property right, and with large market in China, Chinese
TD-SCDMA industry will have a bright future.
TD forum will do its best to help Agilent make constant
progress and development in China¡¯s TD-SCDMA industry.
Gail Heck-Sweeney:
Thanks you!
Mario Narduzzi:
We also hope to establish long term cooperation with TD-SCDMA
Forum.
(The End)
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