Taiwanese mobile service providers have started a comics service on cellphones following the huge success of the business in Japan.
Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信), the nation’s largest phone company, began offering a cartoon service last month mainly about boxers and warriors, using the technology of Celsys Inc, a Japanese company that develops browser software for mobile content distributors.
Rival Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) signed a contract with Cartoon Network to have its popular shows Powerpuff Girls and Ben 10 remade into comics for handset users to download and view, the first such venture by the Time Warner Inc-owned network. That service started last week. Other cartoons were available last month, when 10,000 cellphone users downloaded the comics.
Taiwan Mobile also offers its clients The Legend of the Three Kingdoms, a popular Japanese comic book based on the classic Chinese story of war and revenge.
The two firms are among major mobile service providers promoting the new service at the Comic Exhibition in Taipei, a four-day trade show that has attracted tens of thousands of cartoon fans.
Industry sources said the cellphone cartoon business generated US$90 million in revenues in Japan in 2006. Taiwan, with a population of 23 million compared with Japan’s 127 million and less sophisticated cellphone users, hopes to reach one-fifth or one-tenth of that figure in five years, they said.
“Viewing comics on cellphones is a different experience,” said Christina Hsieh (謝宛蓉), a Taiwan Mobile official. “For instance, a punch in the head would have a dramatic effect with a loud bang and vibration.”
Hu Hueuh-hai, deputy head of Chunghwa Telecom’s mobile service, said his company offered mainly works by Japanese authors.
A three-day test of the service costs NT$135 (US$4.50), Hu said.
As in Japan, the service mainly caters to junior and senior high school students who want a moment of relaxation from the pressures of studying, he said.
A potential cash cow — adult comics or films — will not be considered for now because of a Taiwanese ban on pornography, Hu said.
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