Vodafone
Vodafone

Vodafone

Vodafone Japan Appoints New CEO

Vodafone Holdings K.K. and Vodafone K.K. jointly announce that their respective Boards of Directors today selected Shiro Tsuda to be the next President and Chief Executive Officer and Representative Executive Officer of Vodafone K.K. as of 1 December. [.pdf]. Effective immediately, Shiro Tsuda will act as an Executive Officer for Vodafone Holdings K.K. and Vodafone K.K. until he assumes his position. Shiro Tsuda was formerly Senior Executive Vice President at NTT DoCoMo, Inc.

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.

Vodafone K.K. Offers Auto Image Size Conversion for Sha-mail

Vodafone K.K. announced today that it will offer a new automatic image size conversion function starting September 1, 2004 to make exchanging Sha-mail picture messages among Vodafone customers even more convenient. Currently, various file sizes and formats exist for exchanging images on mobile handsets, and not every handset can automatically receive multiple image formats and file sizes. Using the new automatic image size conversion function in the Vodafone K.K. network mail system, the attached image’s file size and number of colors are automatically converted when a Sha-mail is sent to another Vodafone customer *1, thereby making it possible for the sender to send a picture message without worrying about the receiver’s handset type.

Vodafone Holdings 1Q Op. Revenue Dives

Vodafone Holdings today said its 1QFY04 consolidated operating revenue plunged 21.4 percent compared with the same quarter last year; the figure feel to 356.0 billion yen due mainly to the exclusion of the fixed-line telecommunication business in the second half of fiscal 2003. Total revenue for the mobile business declined by 6 percent compared to the same quarter last year.