Softbank 'left open' the possibility of providing iPhone in Japan

Mr. Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank Corp. (Japan) has just announced a plan to announce the latest mobile phones this month, to challenge digital TVs and ultra-thin handsets from big competitors. Softbank's ability to distribute the iPhone is still left open by Softbank.

Softbank spent 2 trillion yen ($ 16.6 billion) with the acquisition of Vodafone Group Plc in the UK last year, moving to the mobile phone business and currently the smallest of the three mobile carriers in Japan. .

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo after the conference, Son declined to comment on the possibility that Softbank will be Apple's iPhone handset distributor in Japan.

Last week, Softbank's stock surged, with speculation that it would become a distribution partner for the iPhone. However, Son, the founder of Softbank, declined to provide details about the possibility of launching the iPhone, saying Japan's wireless standard is completely different from the iPhone's US telecommunications system by AT&T Cingular Wireless. in the USA.

A new mobile phone model introduced by Softbank in August 2006.Photo: Reuters .

According to a source from the company earlier this week, Son - who was once thought to have a close relationship with Apple CEO Steve Jobs, joined the Macworld exhibition held in San Francisco last week, where Apple World iPhone introduction.

Analysts assessing iPhones may be Softbank's next step, after the Japanese technology firm has sold a number of mobile phones that come with Apple's iPod nano and iPod suffle products.

However, despite the hype, some industry commentators argue that iPhones will only have a negligible effect in Japan, where music phones have become very popular. Many mobile phone models in the sunrise country have high-speed Internet connection, allowing direct download of all songs in minutes.

Softbank plans to announce a new mobile phone on January 25, a week after NTT DoCoMo and KDDI announced their latest product line for spring sales, culminating in March and the end of the school year. and fiscal year in Japan.

" We prepared a lot of phones with many attractive features, " Son said. Softbank will face new competitors' phones announced Tuesday, including phones with the thinnest high-speed Internet connection, a phone with a touch screen of DoCoMo and goods. KDDI series of digital TV products.

A dynamic CEO

Up to this point, Masayoshi Son is one of the most dynamic CEOs in Japan's Internet history.

Son, a native of Korea and educated in the United States, conducted a quiet campaign to buy the hottest American Internet activities as much as possible.

Son is clearly comfortable with numbers, a testimony of his economic background, which has stated that the company has owned up to 25% of Japan's Internet revenue.

Softbank was founded in 1981 when Masayoshi Son graduated from the University of California, majoring in economics. His first business was selling computer translation software to Japan's Sharp Electronics.

The proceeds from the deal were created to create Softbank, which was originally a software distributor for customers in the financial and technological sectors across Japan. Softbank even switched to financial services, games and magazines.

As Softbank continued to grow, Son was able to acquire a large amount of capital and then began a campaign to buy US Internet companies, including the purchase of Internet portals of Yahoo! in 1996.

When Son went to Silicon Valley, California, Softbank stunned the US IT industry by investing up to $ 100,000,000 in Yahoo !, which was only 17 employees at the time. Three years later, this $ 100,000,000 investment brought in at least $ 14 billion as of April 1999.

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