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Sanyo Shares Slide on Battery Recall

Shares of Sanyo Electric Co., the world’s largest maker of rechargeable batteries, fell to a 31- year low after 1.3 million of its cells used in mobile phones were recalled on concern they overheat and rupture. The lithium-ion batteries, made by a unit of Osaka-based Sanyo, are used in Mitsubishi Electric Corp. handsets on NTT DoCoMo Inc.’s high-speed service. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. confirmed it found six cases of burst batteries used in its Panasonic phones, responding to a Yomiuri newspaper report [see Japan Times in English]. Matsushita spokesman Junji Kanegawa said Sanyo wasn’t the battery maker, declining to name the manufacturer.

KDDI Set To Launch Digital Radio Service

For the last four years now, KDDI/au has been setting the pace in Japan for mobile music services, launching the first mastertone service in 2002 and the first full-song download service two years later. The company has recorded a total of over 38 billion mastertone downloads and 78 million full-song over-the-air downloads. They have also achieved impressive handset sales, with more than 22.8 million mastertone-capable and 10.4 million full-song-capable KDDI mobile phones sold in Japan.

At a recent press conference in Tokyo, the wireless operator raised the bar yet again – unveiling plans for its upcoming digital radio launch and introducing the latest incarnation of its LISMO! music service.

TCA – November Results Announced

The Telecom Carriers Association has released the official Japan mobile subscriber stats for November (current figures updated on our left navigation bar), with several stunning results. While not surprising – after the first full month of number portability – KDDI posted an impressive gain with a net +325,000 customers. In contrast, this might well be the first time that market leader NTT DoCoMo has ever announced a net client loss: -17,500. Perhaps even more shocking was the fact that their prized i-mode service also shed 56,200 subscribers! The SoftBank Mobile customer count – which is ‘confusing’ – indicated a net gain of +68,700 contracts, however they somehow managed to lose 3,600 subscribers to the company’s Yahoo! mobile web portal.. hmm? Finally, we saw the total number of 3G subscribers in Japan cross the 60M mark as the migration continued, showing gains of well over 1 mn upgrades per month.

Bravia Mobile TV Phones Going Global

Sony Ericsson may have a worldwide roll out of its Bravia-branded handset that supports DVB-H (digital video broadcasting-handheld) mobile DTV (MDTV) in 2007, according to sources. Partnering with Japanese telecom service provider KDDI, Sony Ericsson launched its first Bravia-brand handset (W44S) in the Japan market this month. Sony debuted the Bravia LCD TV series in the third quarter of 2005. The strong sales of Bravia LCD TVs have helped Sony retain leadership in the global TV market.

KDDI Announces Digital Radio Services

KDDI announced it will add digital radio to its mobile-phone service as the company builds on attracting subscribers with its music download features. The service starts in early December, according to a release given at a press conference today. Users can listen to Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co.’s bilingual station live through their handsets, the statement said.

SoftBank Mobile Reports Modest MNP Success

Japan’s mobile carriers aren’t in turmoil — not so far, anyway. But Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has brought the nearest thing yet to a consumer-facing market meltdown, and the No. 1 Agent of Change is undoubtedly Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Mobile.

The media, industry analysts and Japan Wireless Watchers everywhere have been hit with two sets of numbers in the past fortnight: the initial, media-and-analysts-only post-MNP subscriber churn numbers released on 31 October (one week after MNP start) by NTT DoCoMo and KDDI (SoftBank Mobile was silent), followed by the regular monthly release of overall subscriber numbers issued on 8 November by the TCA Telecommunications Carriers Association; keep in mind that the TCA release is based on self-reporting from the carriers).