Sony Ericsson reviewing ties with NTT DoCoMo
Sony Ericsson said on Monday that it was reviewing its business ties with NTT DoCoMo, Japan's top mobile telephone operator, which is struggling amid an industry price war.
By Agencies |
TOKYO: Sony Ericsson said on Monday that it was reviewing its business ties with NTT DoCoMo, Japan's top mobile telephone operator, which is struggling amid an industry price war.
But the company, a joint venture between Japan's Sony Corp and Sweden's LM Ericsson, declined to confirm reports it will stop making handsets for DoCoMo.
"It is true that Sony Ericsson is reviewing part of its product development plans with DoCoMo," said company spokesman Toshiyuki Kawamura.
But he said the firm would continue to provide products to DoCoMo. The Nikkei business daily reported Monday that Sony Corp would stop making mobile phones for NTT DoCoMo and instead focus on overseas markets.
Sony Ericsson will end production for DoCoMo after introducing new models this summer, the newspaper, without citing sources.
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But it plans to keep NTT DoCoMo as a customer by procuring handsets from other Japanese manufacturers and selling them under the brand of Sony Ericsson, the report said. The newspaper said Sony Ericsson was planning to shift its business focus to China, Europe and North America as it battles Finnish giant Nokia, which dominates the global mobile telephone market.
But Sony Ericsson insisted it remained committed to the Japanese market. "Sony Ericsson does not intend to reduce our development plan for the Japanese cell phone market," said Kawamura.
Japan, a nation of 127 million people, has more than 100 million mobile phones in operation, creating a major challenge for service providers to achieve growth and sparking consolidation among handset manufacturers.
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Sanyo Electric announced last month it would sell its mobile phone production unit to Kyocera Corp while Mitsubishi Electric said last week it would stop making cellphone. Download
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