Japan's DoCoMo to begin selling iPhone as early as autumn: sources

A man walks past the logo of Japan's biggest mobile phone operator NTT Docomo at its shop in Tokyo July 3, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Issei Kato

By Maki Shiraki and Nobuhiro Kubo

TOKYO | Thu Sep 5, 2013 9:23pm EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - NTT DoCoMo Inc will begin selling Apple Inc's iPhone as early as this autumn, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, as it seeks to halt a loss of market share to rivals already offering Japan's most popular smartphone.

DoCoMo, Japan' biggest mobile carrier, had long resisted taking on the iPhone, which remains the most popular smartphone in Japan despite the ascendance of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Galaxy series elsewhere.

It has paid heavily for that strategy as it ceded market share to smaller competitors KDDI Corp and Softbank Corp.

DoCoMo, a pioneer in mobile Internet and one of the last of the world's large mobile carriers still not offering the iPhone to its 60 million customers, said in a stock exchange statement that it had nothing to announce on the matter.

Apple is expected to unveil the latest version of its iPhone at an event on September 10. The Nikkei business daily said an announcement that DoCoMo would begin marketing the iPhone is likely to come on the same day.

Shares in Softbank, the first Japanese carrier to offer the iPhone, fell 2.8 percent as of 0115 GMT on Friday, while KDDI dipped 0.1 percent. DoCoMo was 0.5 percent higher after opening up more than 3 percent.

The sources said DoCoMo would continue with its planned winter promotions for handsets made by Sony Corp, Sharp Corp and Fujitsu Ltd.

Fujitsu shares, which had risen on news that it would be included in the winter promotions, fell 1.6 percent. Sony rose 0.5 percent while Sharp fell 1.3 percent. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average was down 1.2 percent.

Although DoCoMo's negotiations with Apple had been shrouded in secrecy, it was widely believed that strict contractual obligations typically linked to iPhone sales would have conflicted with the Japanese mobile leader's practices.

The sources said it was not clear exactly when a DoCoMo iPhone would go on sale.

(Reporting by Maki Shiraki and Nobuhiro Kubo; Writing by Edmund Klamann; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

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Strong summer sales lift hopes for autumn

LEADING Gold Coast agents and property experts are predicting bumper sales in the traditionally quieter autumn selling season as momentum continues to build following a strong summer.

Autumn is often referred to in the industry as a shoulder period, a period that falls between the peak and low seasons, but agents are reporting increased buyer activity in the lead-up.

Ray White Broadbeach principal Larry Malan said many sellers who had been on the sidelines would decide to list over autumn.

"I think autumn is going to be a very strong season," he said.

"It seems to be that a lot of people were waiting to see what happened with the January auctions and because there had been such demand they have decided it is a good time to sell."

Mr Malan said his agency was seeing strong inquiries for the 22 properties it had going to auction over the Easter period.

He said most activity would be in the mid-range of properties priced between $400,000 and $800,000.

Ray White Broadbeach sold more than $23 million worth of property in the month of February.

Harcourt GC Central business owner Grant Stephens said inquiries for the Easter period were already strong, particularly from interstate buyers and workers in Queensland mines.

"Easter is going to be very, very good," Mr Stephens said. "Inquiries have already been excellent."

Mr Stephens said properties listed for less than $800,000 were "flying out the door" and positive indicators for the market had included multiple offers on the same property and a drop in the number of contracts falling over.

He said one property the agency was marketing on the Isle of Capri had four offers in five weeks.

"We can definitely see activity start to build again," he said.

"Normally we drift into autumn and it's a quieter period."

Professionals John Henderson Real Estate principal Andrew Henderson said he expected the momentum from summer to continue into autumn.

Mr Henderson, whose office had its best sales for five years during summer, said economic factors were more important than seasonal ones.

"There has not been the seasonal swings there have been in the past," he said. "It's more the economic factors that make a difference like low interest rates and people having stability in their employment.

"Sales have been a lot stronger and I don't think there's anything that will stop that other than a lack of stock."

Mr Henderson estimated 70 per cent of the buyers were owner-occupiers and this shift meant holiday investors (who look in summer and buy in the autumn) were not playing as active a role in the market as they had in the past.

He said sellers were also more influenced by the state of the market and not seasonal factors.

"The sellers we've been talking to have seen a few things moving and they think now is a good time to put their home on the market."

Colleen Coyne, of Colleen Coyne Property Research, said strong sales at the January auctions had provided a boost to confidence in the market which was ongoing.

"We had a strong take-up at the Ray White Surfers Paradise auctions in January and confidence is still there in the market and people are actively considering purchasing," Ms Coyne said. "I do not expect prices to fall much."

With interest rates expected to remain low, she said investors would be more confident.

"Timing is good for investment," she said. "Volumes have to pick up before we see price improvement."

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