DoCoMo
DoCoMo

DoCoMo

Macromedia's Flash Lite Shines

Fujitsu's New VoIP/PHS HandsetFlash has been an integral part of the fixed-line Web for years and with its launch on DoCoMo’s 505i-series 2G handsets in spring 2003 (and on FOMA 3G last fall), it has developed into a mobile Web standard in Japan as well; six major Japanese manufacturers are already producing Flash-enabled handsets. Flash has now rolled out on yet another batch of 3G phones, this time from KDDI. We caught up with Macromedia’s senior director of marketing for mobile, Anup Murarka, at KDDI’s launch event in Tokyo and had a fascinating discussion about the past, present, and future of Flash for wireless. Full Program (also available in Real Player and Quick-Time formats) Run-time 20:51

DoCoMo's 1Q Profits Slip 13%

NTT DoCoMo released their first quarter earnings for fiscal year ending March 31, 2005 yesterday. Net income fell to 170.4 billion yen, or $1.53 billion yen, in the three months that ended June 30, from 196.8 billion yen a year earlier. Sales fell 2.5 percent, to 1.22 trillion yen. Despite adding 1.5 million new 3G subscribers they announced a 13% drop in profits over the same period last year. “Our subscriber growth is solid,” Masayuki Hirata, DoCoMo’s senior executive vice president, said at a news conference, “but many of our current initiatives are essentially price cuts, and the migration of customers to FOMA means related costs are increasing.” According to the figures, overall revenue per subscriber dropped from 8,060 yen to 7,400 yen.

Upgrading to a New Cell Phone in Japan Might Depend on Who You Are

Taking a break from the summer heat, this humble reporter was bribed with promises of nomi-hodai, all you can drink at usually unbeatable prices, to tag along as ‘the mobile phone expert’ recently in Shinjuku. So with ice tea-laden backpacks, we embarked on an blistering hot afternoon ketai safari in search of the elusive new V602sh handset from Sharp through Vodafone Japan, only to discover that this ultra-cool model was already sold out at the monster electronic consumer super-store of choice. Or was it? Thus unfolds an interesting look at how the subsidy-driven handset marketplace deals with existing vs. new customers.

KDDI 1Q Net Profit Surges 17.6%

Japan’s second largest mobile carrier KDDI Corp. said today that its quarterly net profit rose on strong demand for its mobile services. Consolidated net profit for the April-June first quarter was 51.66 billion yen ($462.4 million), up 17.6 percent from 43.9 billion yen a year ago. Vodafone reported a 6 percent loss for the same quarter on Monday. DoCoMo reports tomorrow.

NTT DoCoMo to Offer Financing for FeliCa Service Startup at GEO

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that the company entered into a financing agreement with multimedia retail company GEO as part of a strategy to promote i-mode FeliCa service in the Japanese market. Under the agreement, NTT DoCoMo will provide financial assistance for the development of a network system to support i-mode FeliCa service at GEO outlets, and the installation of smart-card reader/writers at approximately 600 GEO shops beginning this November. In order to recoup its investment in the system, DoCoMo will collect a commission for each usage of the FeliCa service. GEO is a major player in the rental and sales of videos, DVDs, CDs and game software.

DoCoMo Unveil's FOMA N880iES 3G Phone

The new “Easy & Simple” NEC handset [.jpg image] is equipped with a camera that has an effective resolution of 320,000 pixels, and is the first model in the “Raku Raku Phone” series to be compatible with the 3G network. Users can receive voice calls and videophone calls by following the blinking keys and the instructions displayed on the screen. As with previous easy-to-use handsets, this model displays detailed image-based instructions to smoothly walk users through each step of basic operations such as creating and sending mail.