Nokia to hang up on Japan
Source: Agencies |
July 7, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NOKIA Corp, battered by the popularity of smartphones, is abandoning the Japanese market, after a brief foray with luxury cell phones costing as much as 20 million yen (US$250,000).
The Finnish handset maker is closing by the end of July its last store selling high-end Vertu cell phones in Ginza. Previously, it had four such stores in Japan, according to Tomoko Morinari of Sunny Side Up, a Tokyo public relations company that has Nokia as its client.
She declined to say when the decision to leave Japan was made or how many Vertu phones Nokia had sold in Japan.
Vertu said in a statement yesterday that it was "withdrawing from the Japanese market" to better focus on priority businesses. It said its Tokyo office will fold by the end of this year, but promised to continue to do work with Japanese craftsmen.
Nokia phones have never been popular in Japan, where the iPhone from Apple Inc is hugely popular in addition to offerings from Japanese electronics makers such as Sharp Corp. Vertu handsets were billed as luxury items including one of lacquer by a Japanese craftsman decorated as a National Treasure that went for 20 million yen, Morinari said.
Last month, Nokia warned its second-quarter sales and margins are expected to be much lower than anticipated because of global competition in both the high- and low-end markets.
Nokia lost its position as the world's biggest seller of cell phones by revenue to Apple in the first quarter of this year. Nokia held this position from 1998.
The Finnish handset maker is closing by the end of July its last store selling high-end Vertu cell phones in Ginza. Previously, it had four such stores in Japan, according to Tomoko Morinari of Sunny Side Up, a Tokyo public relations company that has Nokia as its client.
She declined to say when the decision to leave Japan was made or how many Vertu phones Nokia had sold in Japan.
Vertu said in a statement yesterday that it was "withdrawing from the Japanese market" to better focus on priority businesses. It said its Tokyo office will fold by the end of this year, but promised to continue to do work with Japanese craftsmen.
Nokia phones have never been popular in Japan, where the iPhone from Apple Inc is hugely popular in addition to offerings from Japanese electronics makers such as Sharp Corp. Vertu handsets were billed as luxury items including one of lacquer by a Japanese craftsman decorated as a National Treasure that went for 20 million yen, Morinari said.
Last month, Nokia warned its second-quarter sales and margins are expected to be much lower than anticipated because of global competition in both the high- and low-end markets.
Nokia lost its position as the world's biggest seller of cell phones by revenue to Apple in the first quarter of this year. Nokia held this position from 1998.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
