DoCoMo to Introduce Wireless LAN Phone
NEC to Supply Handsets to Softbank Mobile
Sony to Withdraw from E-book Business
Nintendo Ships over 6 Million Wii in Japan
HP Introduces $500 Notebook in Japan
Philips Withdraws from Chinese Plasma TV Market
China’s First Plasma Display Line
Tianyu Becomes the Most Popular Domestic Handset Brand in China

NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s leading wireless carrier, plans to introduce home area service as early as June 2008, reported FujiSankei Business I (a Japanese business news portal). With this service, users can access a wireless LAN at home via their cell phones. DoCoMo also plans to market a handset that functions as both cell phone and wireless LAN terminal.

Previously, wireless and fixed-line synergy service has been offered only to corporations. With this new offering, DoCoMo will provide the same service to individuals, who will be able to access their home-based wireless LANs via wireless radio waves. The DoCoMo handset will connect to the DoCoMo wireless network over optical-fiber and ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line; a form of DSL) networks. Voice calls will use VOIP (Voice-over-Internet protocol) technology when coming over the wireless LAN.

One advantage of this method is that it's cheaper. DoCoMo plans to offer a fixed-rate service, with voice calls and net access being offered at significantly lower rates. Data communication speed will also improve, allowing users to download music and video to their cell phones more quickly. In the future, DoCoMo plans to offer an expanded version of this service that allows users Internet access to music and videos on their PCs at home.

If the new home area service is a hit with users, DoCoMo will not only see enhanced revenues but also be able to reduce traffic on its cell phone network. Two of the biggest challenges facing wireless service carriers are cutthroat pricing among competitors and the need for further investment in infrastructure to ease the traffic jam on their various communication networks. DoCoMo's expects its new service to address both problems at minimal cost. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

In an effort to expand its handset client base, NEC of Japan plans to supply handsets to Softbank Mobile, also of Japan, before March 2009, reported FujiSankei Business I (a Japanese business news portal) in May 2008.

NEC is also considering supplying handsets to KDDI (au), which operates a CDMA2000 1x (hybrid 2.5G/3G) network. NTT DoCoMo and Softbank Mobile operate faster W-CDMA (3G) networks.

Japanese handset demand has reached the saturation point. Ten manufacturers now compete in the low-growth market, which has caused some handset makers to make tough decisions. Mitsubishi Electric and Sanyo Electric have already exited the market, while Casio, like NEC, is planning ways to increase its client base. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

Sony of Japan plans to phase out its electronic book distribution business, which supplies books to personal computers and dedicated e-book terminals, reported Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Japan's largest financial daily) in May 2008.

Sony instead will concentrate on content distribution to cell phones. This is a reversal of earlier efforts, when the company introduced its e-book reader, the Librie EBR-1000EP, hoping to cash in on e-book distribution to dedicated terminals, which was expected to be a big thing. However, Sony was not able to achieve critical mass with the Librie as content distribution in Japan shifted from personal computers to cell phones. The company ceased production of its e-book reader in May 2007 due to lackluster sales.

Timebook Town, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony, currently operates an electronic book distribution site (www.timebooktown.jp) that supplies novels, business books, and comics to personal computers. Sony will provide support to those customers until the end of February 2009, at which point it will terminate all services at Timebook Town. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

Enterbrain, a leading Japanese game magazine publisher, reported that Nintendo has shipped over 6 million Wii consoles in Japan since the debut of the popular game console in November 2006. The magazine also reported that Nintendo has shipped over 2 million Wii Fit video games during the first five months of 2008 alone.

As for other popular portable game consoles, Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) is still a top seller, having outsold the Nintendo DS in both March and April of 2008. Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2^nd G, introduced in March 2007, is also very popular. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

Hewlett-Packard of the U.S. plans to introduce a small notebook computer that will retail for about $500 (yen 51,425 @ yen 0.01/$US 1) in Japan, beginning in June 2008, reported Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Japan's largest financial daily) in May 2008.

ASUSTeK of Taiwan is already marketing a no-frills notebook computer for less than $500 in Japan, and HP’s entry in the market will likely intensify competition. It features an 8.9-inch TFT-LCD, weighs 1kg, and uses the Windows Vista operating system. It has 1GByte of RAM and a 120GByte hard-disk drive.

HP also plans to introduce a model with a 150GByte HDD, retailing for around 80,000 yen ($777.83 @ yen 0.01/$US 1). [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

Electronics giant Philips, headquartered in the Netherlands, revealed in May 2008 that it had withdrawn completely from the plasma TV market in China, reported China Press (Japanese news portal reporting news from China). Philips had been reducing shipments of plasma TVs to the Chinese market since 2007. In addition, the company also sold its TV brand to Funai of Japan.

Rapid increase in the demand for LCD TVs has adversely affected the demand for plasma TVs. Worldwide, the demand for LCD TVs is estimated at 100 million units for 2008, compared to 13 million units for plasma TVs.

In related news, Pioneer of Japan also decided to cease production of plasma TV panels and will close down two of its three factories. The company plans to reduce its workforce by about 300 and relocate engineers involved in plasma TV development to other divisions within the company. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

Huaxian High-Tech (http://www.smpdp.com/en/about/about.htm) of China announced that its plasma display production line will be operational by June 2008, reported China Press (Japanese news portal reporting news from China). Huaxian's will be the first plasma display production line in China.

Huaxian High-tech was founded on April 26, 2008 by Nanjing High Tech Economic Development Corporation, Nanjing Panda Electronics, Nanjing Electronic Technology, and Southeast University, all of China.

The plasma display products manufactured at Huaxian’s facility will carry the Panda brand and be released to the market in time for the Beijing Olympics. The Chinese government provided a subsidy of about $9.6 million (yuan 66,650,864 @ yuan 7/$US 1) to Huaxian for the operation. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

K-Touch, the cell-phone brand of Beijing Tianyu Communication Equipment (http://www.benephon.com/en/), is now the best-selling domestic brand in China, according to China Press (Japanese news portal reporting news from China).

Tianyu’s 5% share of the Chinese cell-phone market exceeds that of any other Chinese manufacturer, including Lenovo, AMOI, and TCL, whose market shares are all declining. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]