Cell Phone Makers Archive

  • Fujitsu and Toshiba to merge cell phone units, go international

    Fujitsu and Toshiba to merge cell phone units, go international

    Posted on June 17, 2010 | No Comments
    We reported last week that two of Japan's top cell phone makers, Fujitsu and Toshiba, were in talks to merge their cell phone businesses. And today, we have the rumor confirmed. Under the agreement, Toshiba will spin off its handset unit and Fujitsu is expected to take the majority stake in the joint venture (between a whopping 70 and 80%, according to reports in Japanese media). Read the rest on MobileCrunch.

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  • Confirmed: Fujitsu and Toshiba to merge cell phone units, go international

    Confirmed: Fujitsu and Toshiba to merge cell phone units, go international

    Posted on June 17, 2010 | No Comments
    We reported last week that two of Japan's top cell phone makers, Fujitsu and Toshiba, were in talks to merge their cell phone businesses. And today, we have the rumor confirmed. Under the agreement, Toshiba will spin off its handset unit and Fujitsu is expected to take the majority stake in the joint venture (between a whopping 70 and 80%, according to reports in Japanese media).

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  • New Japanese cell phone behemoth NEC Casio Mobile to go America soon

    New Japanese cell phone behemoth NEC Casio Mobile to go America soon

    Posted on May 27, 2010 | No Comments
    We reported last year that NEC, Hitachi and Casio were in negotiations to merge their cell phone operations to become Japan’s second biggest manufacturer, following Sharp. And the new company, which is called NEC Casio Mobile Communications and was established on May 1, just yesterday announced ambitious expansion plans.

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  • Sharp, Panasonic, Fujitsu, NEC jointly develop new mobile OS

    Sharp, Panasonic, Fujitsu, NEC jointly develop new mobile OS

    Posted on April 26, 2010 | No Comments
    Just last week, we asked the question if the world needs yet another mobile operating system (Samsung's Bada). Now it turns out Japan's biggest cell phone carrier, NTT DoCoMo, apparently thinks the answer is yes. The telecom behemoth (55 million customers in Japan) today announced [press release in English] the development of a brand new "application platform for mobile phones", which is planned to go global, too.

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  • Sharp to bring solar-powered cell phone to China (and possibly elsewhere, too)

    Sharp to bring solar-powered cell phone to China (and possibly elsewhere, too)

    Posted on January 27, 2010 | No Comments
    Sharp, the biggest (in terms of market share) of all eight major Japanese cell phone makers, has been talking about internationalizing its phone business for quite some time now. It makes sense, as the domestic market is shrinking and as Sharp only sold 20% of all their cell phones outside Japan (1.6 million units) last fiscal.

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  • New Japanese cell phone maker NEC-Casio to go America in 2010

    New Japanese cell phone maker NEC-Casio to go America in 2010

    Posted on December 21, 2009 | No Comments
    As MobileCrunch reported back in August, three of Japan's eight top cell phone makers, namely NEC, Casio and Hitachi are going to merge their cell phone businesses next year. Under the agreement, NEC plans to integrate its handset division into a tie-up that already existed between Hitachi and Casio starting April 2010 (the begin of the new fiscal year under the Japanese business calendar). In the meantime, the companies involved decided on a name for the new venture: NEC Casio Mobile. The company's capitalization stands at a relatively modest $55 million, with NEC holding a 71% stake, Casio 20% and Hitachi 9%. And as I speculated in my previous article, that new company plans to enter the global market in a (relatively) aggressive way.

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  • New cell phone maker NEC-Casio goes America, targets 200% international sales boost

    New cell phone maker NEC-Casio goes America, targets 200% international sales boost

    Posted on December 21, 2009 | No Comments
    As MobileCrunch reported back in August, three of Japan's eight top cell phone makers, namely NEC, Casio and Hitachi are going to merge their cell phone businesses next year. Under the agreement, NEC plans to integrate its handset division into a tie-up that already existed between Hitachi and Casio starting April 2010 (the begin of the new fiscal year under the Japanese business calendar). In the meantime, the companies involved decided on a name for the new venture: NEC Casio Mobile. The company's capitalization stands at a relatively modest $55 million, with NEC holding a 71% stake, Casio 20% and Hitachi 9%. And as I speculated in my previous article, that new company plans to enter the global market in a (relatively) aggressive way.

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  • Sharp prepares Android phone for next year as first Japanese cell phone maker

    Sharp prepares Android phone for next year as first Japanese cell phone maker

    Posted on November 18, 2009 | No Comments
    Android is still in its infancy in Japan where most domestic makers still stick with their proprietary operating systems, with basically no one outside the geek community knowing what it is. But things are changing slowly. Last week, SoftBank (the country's third biggest cell phone carrier) announced an Android-powered phone for next year when the company announced their new models for the next months. And yesterday, Sharp announced at an event in Tokyo it will roll out a yet to be specified number of Android-based handsets as early as the first half of next year. Sharp commands the biggest market share of all eight cell phone makers in Japan so this is very good news for the Google OS in what is the most advanced mobile society in the world.

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  • Sharp to go Android next year as first Japanese cell phone maker

    Sharp to go Android next year as first Japanese cell phone maker

    Posted on November 18, 2009 | No Comments
    Android is still in its infancy in Japan where most domestic makers still stick with their proprietary operating systems, with basically no one outside the geek community knowing what it is. But things are changing slowly. Last week, SoftBank (the country's third biggest cell phone carrier) announced an Android-powered phone for next year when the company announced their new models for the next months. And yesterday, Sharp announced at an event in Tokyo it will roll out a yet to be specified number of Android-based handsets as early as the first half of next year. Sharp commands the biggest market share of all eight cell phone makers in Japan so this is very good news for the Google OS in what is the most advanced mobile society in the world.

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  • NEC, Casio and Hitachi make cell phone op merger official, announce international plans

    NEC, Casio and Hitachi make cell phone op merger official, announce international plans

    Posted on September 15, 2009 | No Comments
    The first rumors started spreading about two weeks ago, and it was officially announced yesterday: Major Japanese cell phone makers Hitachi, NEC and Casio are merging their mobile phone operations to become Japan's No. 2 maker (following Sharp). The name of the new venture will be "NEC Casio Mobile Communications".

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  • NEC, Casio and Hitachi make cell phone op merger official, want to go international

    NEC, Casio and Hitachi make cell phone op merger official, want to go international

    Posted on September 15, 2009 | No Comments
    The first rumors started spreading about two weeks ago, and it was officially announced yesterday: Major Japanese cell phone makers Hitachi, NEC and Casio are merging their mobile phone operations to become Japan's No. 2 maker (following Sharp). The name of the new venture will be "NEC Casio Mobile Communications".

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  • Nokia starts offering VERTU mobile phone services in Japan

    Nokia starts offering VERTU mobile phone services in Japan

    Posted on September 7, 2009 | No Comments
    nokia_japan Japan is a tough market to crack for many non-Japanese cell phone makers, and even the world's leading cell phone maker, Nokia, had to give up its Japan operations after having failed to gain a foothold in this country (in November last year). But they're trying again, this time with their luxury brand Vertu.

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  • Japanese cell phones for the world: NEC and Panasonic plot new overseas sales plans

    Japanese cell phones for the world: NEC and Panasonic plot new overseas sales plans

    Posted on July 6, 2009 | No Comments
    Japan, the world's second largest economy with the third biggest Internet population, and the many, many early adopters of technology inhabiting this nation could be heaven for the domestic cell phone industry. And it was for years, until sales started slowing dangerously (minus 30% last fiscal year), and the overall population is poised to shrink and age dramatically in the future. These two developments made a handful of Japanese cell phone makers think about moving away from creating all those fancy Nippon-only phones they've been producing for years. Now NEC and Panasonic seem to be finally ready to export some models - as early as next fiscal year, according to Japan's biggest business newspaper Nikkei.

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  • Japanese cell phones for all: NEC and Panasonic plot overseas sales plans

    Japanese cell phones for all: NEC and Panasonic plot overseas sales plans

    Posted on July 6, 2009 | No Comments
    Japan, the world's second largest economy with the third biggest Internet population, and the many, many early adopters of technology inhabiting this nation could be heaven for the domestic cell phone industry. And it was for years, until sales started slowing dangerously (minus 30% last fiscal year), and the overall population is poised to shrink and age dramatically in the future. These two developments made a handful of Japanese cell phone makers think about moving away from creating all those fancy Nippon-only phones they've been producing for years. Now NEC and Panasonic seem to be finally ready to export some models - as early as next fiscal year, according to Japan's biggest business newspaper Nikkei.

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