Sign of the Times
Sign of the Times

Sign of the Times

WWJ Welcomes Shinnyushain

Gail NakadaYesterday, WWJ formally welcomed long-time Tokyo tech journalist Gail Nakada as host of our MobaHo! video interview. Gail did a fantastic job in front of the camera and kept the stressed corporate marketing guy on the spot with charm, wit and a bunch of insightful questions proving this is one WWJ journo not to be messed with.. 🙂

To be accurate, Gail isn’t really a ‘New Entering Company Employee’ (Shinnuyshain); she’s been contributing very cool stories to WWJ since late last fall, including an in-depth look at DoCoMo’s new designer models and a report on the mobile Web’s first cell-phone soap opera. We look forward to seeing more stories and videos in 2005!

PCCW Eyes 3G in China

PCCW Chairman Richard Li, who negotiated a $1-billion investment from China’s second-largest phone company, plans to start businesses including broadband television and 3G mobile services in mainland China to make up for slumping Hong Kong sales. China is planning to issue licenses to operate 3G networks and Li said there is “a good chance” China Network will win a permit and that regulators will allow PCCW to take a 49-percent stake in cell phone ventures.

Flashing Phone Accessory

Not your usual spam: “Please note attached pictures of Mobile Phone accessories; we are supplying kinsmanship item for buyer in Japan. We [just] did done 12,000,000 pcs for Japan Coca-Cola company, so, I think [these] kinds [of] accessories will find a ready market in Japan.” An interesting look at what has to be one of the most profitable businesses related to mobile phones: accessories and customization.

NEC Telecom China Opens First Mobile Phone Retail Store in Beijing

NEC Corporation announced that NEC Telecommunications (China) opened its first exclusive mobile phone retail store in Beijing on January 12th. Ben Nakamura, NEC’s Senior Vice President and member of the board commented at the opening ceremony: “China has the world’s largest consumer population and we are sure that NEC Telecom China will continue to drive success in this largest telecommunications market.” In addition to this Beijing store, NEC Telecom China has also opened another exclusive store in Guangzhou selling NEC mobile phones exclusively. The company is planning to open 10 more exclusive stores by the end of 2005.

DoCoMo Plans New Offices in APAC

NTT DoCoMo has announced the company will establish offices in Shanghai and Singapore in January 2005. The company said it aims to “enhance its information-gathering capabilities, as well as raise its profile and strengthen relationships with government officials and corporate managers, in these two important markets.” The carrier also stated that, “Yoshimune Ishii will head the Shanghai office and Haruki Yamashita will head the Singapore office, both of which will have about four employees.”

3G Competition Heating Up

Foreseeing that demand for 3G phones will get on track in Europe and North America this year, sparking competition with rivals in Japan, Samsung and LG are turning up the heat to market their new 3G models to customers in these regions. Mobile phone makers in Japan such as NEC, Panasonic, Sharp and Sanyo, which have concentrated on supplying W-CDMA phones to carriers in Japan, are also reportedly poised to focus more on global markets this year.