Japan Handset Makers Gearing Up

Since all the merger action is finally settled, we expect alot of Jpn smartphone ‘droid action both here and abroad http://bit.ly/ba6hf9

With Sharp and Toshiba already shipping devices and the rest coming up close behind there will clearly be plenty of buzz around this segment for the next few years. A recent DoCoMo presser noted the company is expecting upwards of 50% annual handset sales will be in the smartphone design category. [eds]

The two articles below via the Nikkei this week..

Panasonic Mobile To Push Smartphones In Japan, Abroad

Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. said Tuesday that it will begin selling smartphones domestically next year and overseas in 2012, making a new attempt at foreign expansion.

The Panasonic Corp. (6752) subsidiary aims to sell 15 million mobile phones in fiscal 2015 — about triple its result for fiscal 2009 — with smartphones accounting for three-quarters of the total.

In Japan, Panasonic Mobile will begin offering at least two models of smartphones using Google Inc.’s Android operating system in the first half of next year. For its latest move overseas, the company plans to roll out products in the first half of 2012 by teaming up with local telecommunications firms. It has yet to decide which foreign markets to target.

NEC Casio Mobile To Move Into Smartphones

NEC Casio Mobile Communications Ltd. said Thursday that it plans to have smartphones account for more than 50% of its mobile phone sales in fiscal 2012. As a first step, NEC Casio Mobile will launch one smartphone model in North America by the end of March and at least three in Japan during the April-September half next year.

Expected to run Google Inc.’s Android operating system, the new phones will likely offer such features as water resistance, durability, thinness and high-performance cameras. The company also revealed that it is developing a tablet-type offering compatible with Long Term Evolution next-generation mobile phone technology.