Vodafone in talks to sell Japanese unit to Softbank
By Evan Blass 
posted Mar 3rd 2006 7:30PM
posted Mar 3rd 2006 7:30PM
UK-based wireless carrier Vodafone has acknowledged
that it is in talks with Softbank to sell a majority stake in its Japanese operations, which have lagged behind
industry leaders NTT DoCoMo and KDDI. Softbank recently acquired a 3G license for Japanese service, and after
approaching Vodafone last year in an MVNO capacity, have come back with an outright attempt to purchase the entire
unit. Analysts estimate that Vodafone's business in Japan could be worth as much as $12.3 billion, and shares of the
international carrier rose 8.56% on Friday after the announcement. Remarking on Vodafone's troubled entry into the 3G
space, one London-based analyst commented, "Japan has been a major drag on profit margins
recently...If this is an opportunity to exit at the right price, then Vodafone should jump at it."
this definately echos with this NY Times article that vodafone's Japanese unit hasn't been doing well compare to au-KDDI or DoCoMo, or even the newer PHS carrier Wilcom. Artcile suggested that it's due to bad strategy of a global coproration that it failed to recognize the importance of the local mobile culture. Anyone interested in the article can be found here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05vodaphone.html?ei=5088&en=e5776882e95e6353&ex=1283572800&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1125922113-35YUEq4HYYYXeVVDIvfRUA&pagewanted=all
Good. About time. Vodafone cannot take a phone carrier into the blended media arena that softbank can. I wish them luck in future. SoftBank media and software arms can synergize lots of new media blended into 3G with mobility, positioning, sensing and large scale communities with almost seamlessly fixed internet experience.
It it the next level that a typical carrier cannot reach as the Telecom types still do NOT get Internet and software impact on communications.
J-Phone was a great company that was able to meet the demands of Japan's insular mobile market and they had some good phones, too. I remember J-Phone being a really good company while I was living over in Japan.
When they switched to Vodafone, they really messed up by trying European ideas in a market where the language has no equivalent of the V sound...Japanese couldn't even SAY "Vodafone" correctly, why would they bother with a company whose phones are just copies of Europhones with blocky styling?
AU runs on the strength of its ultra-fast communication network and unique phones and DoCoMo is like Cingular in that it has the best signal coverage and 3G services available. Vodafone offered nothing that Au or NTT couldn't do better and Vodafone's prices were not competitive enough to make up the difference.