Vodafone to leave Japanese mobile market
Bows out with sale of former J-Phone unit to Softbank
Global telecoms firm Vodafone is to leave the Japanese market entirely, with the company's operations in that region to be sold to Internet communications empire Softbank in a deal expected to come in at over $10 billion.
Talks over the deal are said to be in the closing stages, after discussions which are reported to have been ongoing for over a year, and which will see Vodafone retreating from one of the most advanced mobile markets in the world.
The London-based operator entered the Japanese market with the acquisition of number two player J-Phone several years ago, but since then has seen a poor fit between its blanket global strategies and the unique requirements of the Japanese market.
Attempts at rolling out the same 3G handsets in Japan as are being used in other worldwide markets were viewed in a poor light by Japanese consumers used to being at the cutting edge of technology, while there were widespread reports of poor service and delayed or lost messages - a hammer blow for the firm in a market where mobile messaging is a vital method of communication.
Shares in Vodafone jumped on the news of the sale, although they cooled down rapidly and at the time of writing were trading up just over five and a half per cent on the London Stock Exchange.
Softbank was granted a license to run a mobile service in Japan last year, but the huge company will be able to ramp up to a significant position in the market much more rapidly by acquiring Vodafone's business - which remains very large despite recent difficulties.