Taiwanese telecom operator APT (Asia Pacific Telecom) and China Telecom plan to launch joint procurement in the second quarter of 2011, according to a March 9, 2011 report by the Commercial Times of Taiwan. It is reported that the two companies will jointly purchase Smarphones priced under 1,000 RMB (US$152.20; US$1=6.57 RMB), tablet PCs, NICs (Network Interface Card), and CPE (Customer Premises Equipment). APT is projected to purchase 1.2 million to 1.3 million units of CPE in 2011, with Smartphones accounting for 20% to 25%, up from the 11% share in 2010.