I doubt they will make their March '03 target, but this is the first sign of strength in FOMA sales in a long time. The question now turns to performance, but at least there are still signs of interest in FOMA.
I wonder if the fact that Docomo is paying for half of the development cost counts as a subsidy when they are calculating royalties....
nni.nikkei.co.jp
Thursday, February 6, 2003
Demand For New 3G Phone Strong: DoCoMo President
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The two latest third-generation mobile phone models of NTT DoCoMo Inc. (9437) have sold a total of 17,000 units in the past two weeks, Keiji Tachikawa, the president of NTT DoCoMo, said in a press meeting on Thursday.
Sales of its FOMA 3G service cell phones dropped to 2,000-6,000 units a month despite a strong initial performance just after the service started in October 2001.
The strong sales of the two models - F2051 launched on Jan. 18 and N2051 offered on Feb. 3 - have boosted the total sales of FOMA mobile phones to 152,000.
Japan's top mobile phone operator decided to shoulder 50% of FOMA phone development cost by handset manufactures from last month. "As a result, the purchase price of FOMA phones from suppliers has plunged sharply," Tachikawa said.
The retail prices of FOMA models have fallen by about 10,000 yen to 14,000-29,000 yen. "Our stock has run out due to strong sales," an official at a large electric appliance retailer said.
President Tachikawa also stated that his company will take action to block access to so-called dating Web sites from cellular phones, which have become something of a social problem in Japan.
At the request of parents, the company will prevent access from phones owned by minors to content other than that provided on NTT DoCoMo official Web sites from this summer.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Friday morning edition) |
