The world’s leading mobile phone maker Nokia said yesterday it would stop selling and marketing its mobile devices in Japan because its market share there remained below expectations.
“In the current global economic climate, we have concluded that the continuation of our investment in Japan-specific product variants is no longer sustainable,” Timo Ihamuotila, an executive vice president at Nokia, said in a statement.
However, sales of the Vertu luxury mobile phones, a brand owned by Nokia, will continue in Japan, the Finnish company said. Its global research and development as well as sourcing operations in Japan will also continue.
“In Japan we have had a low market share, below our own targets also. We have been investing in the market for a long time, but we are still in that situation,” Nokia communications executive vice president Thomas Joensson said.
He said the company continued to believe its exclusive Vertu brand would succeed in the Japanese niche market segment despite the global financial turmoil.
Vertu makes expensive handsets that are often embellished with titanium, gold, jewels and crystal.
Last month Nokia said it estimated its global market share in the July to September period was 38 percent. The Finnish firm has done very well in emerging markets such as China and India, but has failed to attract technology savvy Japanese consumers.
Handsets designed by foreign manufacturers have traditionally been unpopular among Japan’s notoriously finicky consumers.
Japan’s top mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo, and No. 3 Softbank Mobile sell Nokia handsets, but the Finnish giant’s market share is limited.
Many consumers are accustomed to Japanese-made mobile telephones, which are also widely used as electronic wallets, train tickets and even to watch TV.
Yomiuri Shimbun reported last week that Nokia planned to launch its own mobile phone service in Japan in February initially for Vertu handsets.
Kyodo News said Nokia was considering starting a mobile phone service as a virtual network operator, using communication lines owned by NTT Docomo.
Nokia will boost its sales network in Japan and present its own price plans for the mobile telephone services, the report said.
A Nokia spokeswoman in Tokyo declined to comment.
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