The Casio, Hitachi and NEC mobile merger simplified

At the end of August, we reported on the possibility of a merger between three of Japans smaller mobile device companies. Casio, Hitachi and NEC all have other manufacturing concerns, but their mobile divisions haven’t been hugely succesfully. Now the three companies have confirmed that they will be merging their mobile units into one, much larger venture. They’ve released some details - so we can have a look at what it will mean.

The Japanese mobile mergers story

Three of Japans mobile device manufacturers are said to be in talks for a large merger. NEC, Hitachi and Casio all provide devices mainly for the Japanese market, and it is strongly believed that they might combine forces to stamp down production and materials costs - not to mention research. But how would that affect their fortunes in the current market?

NTT DoCoMo finishes catching up with Softbank, and overtakes

We noted at the start of July how NTT DoCoMo had been catching up on rival operator Softbank in terms of new subscriptions. DoCoMo, the Godzilla of the Japanese mobile operators, had been lagging behind the smaller, newer operator for 26 months straight. But a slash-and-burn policy for data charges seems to have brought the bigger company back out on top.

Japans mobile operator battle: NTT DoCoMo profits slide while Softbank continues to shine

NTT DoCoMo has released some details from it’s first quarter finances. The giant Japanese mobile operator says that it’s net profit dropped by 15.1% from the one year ago. NTT DoCoMo blames the slip on increased competition and saturation of its home market. And that competition takes its strongest form in rival operator Softbank - which has reported a net profit increase of 41%

NTT DoCoMo explains 4G mobile Internet push

NTT DoCoMo has been aggressively pushing towards a 2010 LTE launch. The Japanese giant claims it will have its 4G network in place in 2010, even its competitors wait and take a more cautious approach.

NTT DOCOMO wants to escape Japan for mobile growth

NTT DoCoMo is looking to invest in Asian carriers outside of Japan. This isn’t a surprise after the aggressive behaviour of the mobile operator this year, and it echoes the actions of South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom. They’ve even got the same reason for looking abroad: a mature, saturated market in their home country is slowing growth.

NTT DOCOMO reclaims ground against iPhone exclusive Softbank

In 2005, telecoms company Softbank bought out Vodafone Japan, giving it a foot in the mobile market. Since then NTT DOCOMO, Japans main operator, has been trailing Softbank for new sign-ups. With Softbanks exclusive iPhone deal in Japan, and recent iPhone 3G S launch, you might have expected that to continue. But this month NTT DOCOMO has closed the sign-up gap to within 500 customers.

Japanese/Indian mobile operator TATA DOCOMO expands aggressively

We recently announced the launch of TATA DOCOMO. The operator is a branch of Indian company Tata Teleservices, heavily funded by Japanese giant NTT DOCOMO. The entire purpose of TATA DOCOMO is to spread a GSM mobile network all across India. This week has see the venture launching in two separate Indian territories.

NTT DOCOMO launches popular comic franchises on European mobile devices

Japanese mobile giant NTT DOCOMO today announced that it will be distributing popular Japanese comics through a European branch, DOCOMO Netherlands. The mobile content is being launched in France today.

Japanese comics, better known as manga, are a hugely popular form of entertainment in their home country. They have also had a steadily growing audience in [...]

Japan looks to mobile devices for disease control

The Japanese cell-phone market is notoriously one of the most saturated in the world. The Japanese government is looking to see what new uses can be made of this, and has approved a research scheme from mobile company Softbank that will use GPS enabled mobiles to simulate the spread of a virulent disease.

How?

The test will [...]

Intel sinks $43 million into Japanese WiMAX

Intel has announced that it has invested $43 million dollars into Japanese mobile internet company UQ Communications. The 4G mobile network should be launched by the start of next month, with Intel also providing the embedded tech required to connect to the service.

Intel has been working with UQ for a good while now - next [...]

Weird but wonderful - mobile barcodes now appearing on Japanese tombs

Seemingly not content with using QR codes for shopping, fast food, browsing the web and networking (amongst others uses) the Japanese are now using them to honor their dead. This service has been available since last year, but it’s so crazy it really merits mention.
Ishinokoe, a Japanese tombstone maker, now creates customised tomb stones with [...]

Pay for your Japanese McDonald’s with your mobile via RFID

Rating: Hmm, now I’m hungry, what’s for breakfast?
They Say: Wireless Watch Japan are reporting that McDonald’s Japan have announced that mobile users now have the ability to purchase their fast food through the inbuilt e-wallet coupon in their Japanese mobile and in-store Felicia and DoComo iD Readers.

From May 20th, 175 restaurant locations will be equipped [...]

The Geovector handset discovered in Earls Court

Rating: Master class at Internet World reveals its existence
I trotted up to London’s Earls Court to listen to a ‘master class’ in mobile marketing courtesy of Inside Mobile’s James Hilton. And I personally discovered the purpose of GeoVector equipped mobile phones.
What GeoVector provides in essence is the ability to sense which direction the owner has [...]

Yahoo! Japan deploys white label mobile search from MCN Mobile Content Networks

Rating: Uta Search on mobile for music
by Bena Roberts
AOL claimed to have one of the unique mobile content ringtone searches with its partnership with Thumbplay. UpSnap has launched a mobile content podcast search. Google is creating its own mobile content search – but its seems as though it’s Yahoo! Japan with the Trump Card.

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Yahoo! [...]

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