DoCoMo and Telefonica in handset pact that could pressurize Vodafone
Published: 27 May, 2009
READ MORE: NTT DoCoMo | Telefonica | Vodafone | Handset
Continued ...
The company has already launched several models in China, also seen as a major opportunity for Japanese manufacturers because its new 3G networks are wide open in terms of handsets, with no brands entrenched as yet. Panasonic is also considering a return to international markets, after pulling out of overseas sales in 2005 because of the difficulty of competing against larger players like Nokia. Despite support from DoCoMo, Toshiba plans to stop manufacturing in Japan and move these activities abroad.
Japanese operators have led a trend that shows some signs of spreading to Europe - lengthening handset replacement cycles in order to reduce expenditure on subsidies, either through incentives to delay upgrades (a tactic already used in the UK by O2), or with an instalment sales system now gaining ground in Japan. This has encouraged users to hold onto their phones for longer, and handset unit shipments in the country plummeted by 30% in the year ended March 2009, to 34.64m. Sharp saw its handset sales fall by almost 35% in the same period, to 9.92m units.
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