Nokia Oyj, the world's biggest mobile-phone maker, will supply handsets for NTT DoCoMo Inc's latest service in Japan, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said. The move could allow Nokia to expand its tiny share of the country's US$73 billion annual market for mobile phones and services.
Nokia handsets will be offered on Tokyo-based DoCoMo's FOMA service, the newspaper said. FOMA features easier access to e-mails, music and video through its so-called third generation network. DoCoMo spokeswoman Mariko Hanaoka did not confirm the report, saying nothing had been decided. Shinko Osada, a spokeswoman for Nokia in Tokyo, declined to comment. Nokia is based in Espoo, Finland.
DoCoMo, the world's second-largest mobile-phone operator, buys its FOMA handsets from Japanese makers such as NEC Corp and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, with most priced at a premium to older service models. Sourcing from Nokia, which will offer handsets for similar so-called third-generation services around the world, may allow DoCoMo to reduce its purchasing costs and offer a lower-priced handset range.
"DoCoMo's biggest aim is to lower the procurement price," said Shinji Moriyuki, a senior analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd, who has a "outperform" rating on DoCoMo shares.
"DoCoMo will eventually have more users for FOMA than for its older networks, so lower-priced handsets will definitely be needed."
Nokia and closest rival Motorola Inc control a combined 48 percent of global mobile-phone sales, yet have almost no presence in Japan, largely because the country has employed its own wireless standards in the past. Introduction of so-called third-generation wideband code-division multiple access technology globally means the two can more easily offer handsets compatible with DoCoMo's network.
Nokia already sells handsets that can be used on Vodafone Group Plc's third-generation network in Japan.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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