Disney Mobile Japan Unveils Three New Handsets

• Posted: Wednesday, January 23, 2008
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• Author: pradhana
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• Filed under: Handset

Disney has finally opened the kimono for its planned MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) launch in Japan by unveiling the service's initial three mobile phones.

Disney claims to be "extremely confident" in achieving success as the country's first MVNO, despite the high-profile debacles of ESPN Mobile and “Disney Mobile” in the U.S.

The company plans to launch the MVNO, which will be called Disney Mobile, on March 1, 2008. The service is a joint venture with Softbank - Softbank Mobile.

Japan's Sharp made the three phones (DM001SH comes in three colors: Shiny Silver, Glitter Gold and Sparkle Pink), which are adorned with silhouette patterns of Mickey Mouse. The phones also include a dedicated button that sends subscribers directly to Disney websites as well as Disney themes and icons for wallpaper.

It is entering the tough Japanese market despite the failure of Disney Mobile in the United States, another MVNO which shut down at the end of last year, said Duncan Orrell-Jones, vice president of Walt Disney Internet Group Asia-Pacific. The flop was mainly due to its business model in the US, "where we did everything on our own,"

Disney, giving up a solo operation, decided to tie up with Softbank, which is a "much more powerful model that gives us collaboration across everything from handsets to service to distribution," he said.

"We have enjoyed a great deal of success in Japan with our mobile content services catering to Japanese women," Paul Candland, president of Walt Disney Company Japan, said in a statement.

Disney is already a major content provider for mobile phones in Japan, with some 3.5 million people subscribing to its site of whom 75 percent are women over 20, he said.

In Japan, the company has reached a more collaborative and lower-risk agreement with Softbank Mobile, a unit of Softbank Corp., in which Softbank Mobile will handle all of the back-end operations, including customer service and sales of Disney Mobile service through its network of 2,500 Softbank Mobile stores.

Disney Mobile also will be available through major electronics retailers as well as its own Web site. [FierceWireless/AFP]

Related articles:
Disney Cellphone Service In Japan to Target Women
Disney goes mobile in Japan

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