Nokia tying up with NTT DoCoMo for Japanese MVNO?

So Nokia has a 40-odd percent stake in the world's handset market. You know where that insanely high number isn't coming from? Japan, where the Finnish giant holds less than a 1-percent share of phone sales as it competes against domestic models from Sharp, NEC, Fujitsu, and others who've traditionally ruled over FOMA with an iron fist. We think that we can probably chalk that up to the simple fact that Nokia doesn't produce many (okay, any) wide VGA flip phones with one-seg TV tuners, but they're thinking bigger -- way bigger -- to the tune of a self-branded MVNO that'd operate on NTT DoCoMo's expansive network. A Japanese paper is reporting that the virtual network will launch next spring, initially with high-end models designed to establish name recognition in a market where it currently has none; Vertu is just starting to set up shop over there, so we're assuming they don't mean ridiculously high-end, but high-end in the sense that the spec sheets won't get laughed right out of town.

[Via Unwired View, thanks Robin of Loxley]

[ILoveApple @ Nov 22nd 2008 6:13PM]

Even if Nokia were selling the N85 in Japan, it would still be laughed at. Nokia had better have something amazing up their sleeves for next spring if they really want to establish themselves in the Japanese market.

[greenlight @ Nov 22nd 2008 6:21PM]

Hopefully this means Nokia will develop some WVGA devices and actually release then in Europe as well unlike the asian manufacturers, or at least that they'll be unlockable in a fashion that means we can use data and MMS features (that are usually blocked even on unlocked japanese models)

[Shinigami @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:15AM]

Nokia had such plans in its old roadmap but that roadmap is old and not reliable now.

They were preparing something 3-inch screened with WVGA ("hi-res") display and 8mp camera. Something makes me think they wanted to look cool in Japan with that... Same thing makes me think their "top-class" phones will look "oh-so-medicore" in Japan...

We'll have to wait and see what happens this spring, because Japan has its own phone makers, and those don't sleep either.

[Benson @ Nov 23rd 2008 1:44AM]

Well, Nokia already has three WVGA non-phone devices, and the next of the Maemo line is confirmed to have HSPA, so they're not completely dead on that just from announcements. It can only get better counting unannounced phones, so I'm betting that WVGA phones happen pretty soon.

[YpoCaramel @ Nov 22nd 2008 6:38PM]

Nokia needs to go the big screened smartphone direction anyways. The Japanese were there early because of imode's popularity, and now the iPhone has pushed the GSM / American markets into it as well (along with HTC, RIM right now and Palm in the early days). Solid Japanphone designs would be a right step for Nokia in the rest of the world too.

[ace587 @ Nov 22nd 2008 6:50PM]

Nokia needs to better make some damn good devices. They should start off with 2.8 VGA screens

[Samboini @ Nov 22nd 2008 7:21PM]

2.8 screens? You either have 2 of them, or you have 3. Unless of course you meant to append the prefix " to the 2.8...

Jas, I'm being an arse.

[Fernando @ Nov 22nd 2008 7:17PM]

Hey what you guys say about 640 x 360 pixels, 3.2 inch screens? Think those are good enough for japan?

[ace587 @ Nov 22nd 2008 10:36PM]

no that is FAIL

[Shinigami @ Nov 23rd 2008 12:17AM]

Japan phones have 848x480 screens as a normal thing, I think there were even model with higher resolution...
So Nokia's 640x360 is, as ace587 said, FAIL.

[G @ Nov 23rd 2008 4:33AM]

There is a japanese phone with 1024x768 pixels, Japan rocks :D


I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Symbian S60 5th editon device with an 800x480 pixel touchscreen and an 8 MP camera, i hope Nokia won't let me down .

[fh @ Nov 23rd 2008 4:54AM]

A few things:
- eMobile used to be a MVNO on DoCoMo while it was busy building out its UMTS 1700 towers. This allowed them to take advantage of NTT's 3G network when many were making the switch, and migrating to their own data-centric services let them gain a lot of customers in the process. It might be too late for Nokia to do the same.
- KDDI is getting ready to launch WiMAX next year, and NTT is expected to follow with its own 4G rollout.
- That means Nokia could end up launching an MVNO on a leftover 3G network while more customers begin to switch to 4G. The current FOMA handset makers keep their position at the top, and Nokia gets stuck paying the bills.

If I were Nokia, I would play this very carefully.

[PKhun @ Nov 23rd 2008 5:32AM]

Nokia is way behind in the global market in terms of their S60 pap. Japan is a far cry. I'd love to see them laughed out of town though, so sure Nokia, go go go.

[Pdexter @ Nov 23rd 2008 5:41AM]

Well i think you just don't know what you are talking about. Example Sharp uses Symbian OS in Japan and Symbian has sold 40 million phones there(Symbian owned by Nokia 100% now days). If anything Symbian isn't a probolem, it's an advantage. Anyways Japanese phones aren't exactly know about their great soft if anything most of them are pretty horrible to use.

Funny thing would be if they do same as SE and and got 8mp 3.5inch high reso phones by April there and decide to do SE's and leave Europe market.

[Sirops @ Nov 23rd 2008 5:45AM]

Pwned. For many Americans this whole Symbian thing seems to be too hard to understand and same goes for unlocked market ;)

[L.J. @ Nov 23rd 2008 5:58AM]

They indeed got some great Symbian OS phones there. Example this http://www.symbian-freak.com/news/008/11/docomo_prime_series_sh_01a_is_based_on_symbian.htm

8.1mpx, 3.3VGA, Virtual 5.1 channel Dolby Pro Logic 2 surround sound, TV tuner and 15mm thin. Give me that Nokia! It would be pitty if they come up with only phones ment for japanese market thought.

[Valicore @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:21AM]

Ugh so true, Japanese phones have the worst fricken' software in the world, I would hate to have to use those interfaces everyday.