The April subscriber numbers are public and the news is mixed, at best, for Big V. Vodafone KK suffered a loss of 180,800 2G subscribers but only gained 141,300 3G users, for a net loss of 39,500 subs. This has got to be disappointing given that the March’s loss had fallen to a mere 7,400 and company management were likely hoping April would see a turnaround with the net change moving into the black.
Apple’s iPod is putting the ‘fun’ in functionality and Japanese electronics makers are innovating for a piece of the action. Car navigation system maker Clarion has added iPod access to their newest AddZest HDD series. Touch panels on the MAX950HD and MAX850HD will synch with the iPod via an optional connector cable. Like the iTunes PC display, the car version can bring up album covers and artist’ names on the screen. Drivers who prefer to burn music instead of rubber can use both the 950 and 850 to rip CDs at speeds of 4X to 7X. Something to do in those endless rush hour traffic jams. The built-in hard disk will hold around 4000 tunes. Full Specs from the company press release [in Japanese].
NTT DoCoMo and KDDI Corp. may say Q4 operating profit fell as they paid retailers more to lure shoppers and promote new handsets. DoCoMo’s operating profit probably dropped 83 percent to 44.4 billion yen ($420 million) in the three months ended March 31, according to the median targets of nine analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The company’s biggest rival in Japan, KDDI, may say operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, fell 6.8 percent to 53.5 billion yen.
Mobile content distributor Index Corp. is looking to put more play into mobile content through a new alliance with Takara Toys. Japanese Game powerhouse Konami has washed its financial hands of all shares in Takara making room for Index to move into this big corporate box of marketable fun. Index Corp. has agreed to purchase 22.2 percent of the toy maker’s outstanding shares at a cost of around 11 billion yen reportedly. The partnership aims to use Takara’s lineup of popular TV animation and toys to drive development of content incorporating the Index Group’s mobile centered expertise.
The two have partnered before. Takara’s Bowlingual dog translator, see WWJ video here, is now our in the US and Canada and was jointly developed with Index and includes mobile phone functionality. In January 2004 Index and Takara set up a company to work on joint projects.
Here kitty, kitty. The Sanrio Hello Kitty Bearbrick special version Apple iPod is hardly cold on Sanrio store shelves when here comes another audio player full of Hello Kitty’s megabrand of marketable goodness: NHJ’s digital audio player helps cool cats customize a meow mix of music via 256 megas of built-in flash memory boosted by SD memory cards (up to 512 MB). Compared to the iPods mini’s fat, 1,000-song capacity, this is just kibble at a mere 192 songs a shot. But this unit targets those who buy Hello Kitty rice cookers, toaster ovens, computer monitors and tissue box covers, not hard-core mobile audiophiles.
3G handsets are driving new phone sales as consumers toss older 2G models for the promise of more music, fun and games. The Nihon Keizai Business Daily reported statistics from the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Association (JEITA) showing February shipments of cell phones jumped 23 percent over the same month last year to total 4.7 million units – the second consecutive month of increases.
Consumers were initially slow to replace 2G handsets but resistance was futile. A barrage of slick ads and enticing features combined with the general mobile mass hysteria for entertainment-on-the-go have Japanese running to electronics retailers and cell-phone boutiques. Subscribers to DoCoMo’s 3G FOMA service have currently reached about 11.5 million and KDDI boasts nearly 18 million. Both cellcos have a seemingly endless lineup of new phones for every sort of consumer.
