Japanese mobile market bolsters DoCoMo, KDDI

Top Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo returned to profit in the first quarter, posting 212.5 billion yen (US$1.8 billion) in net revenue, up from 116.2 billion yen in losses for the same period a year earlier. “These are the results of management placing greater importance on profit and pursuing increased efficiency,” president Keiji Tachikawa told reporters. DoCoMo said 86% of its subscribers – or 37.8 million – use its interactive i-Mode handsets.

Pre-tax profit hit a record 1.04 trillion yen on 9.1% growth on the back of a 3.2% increase in revenue to 4.81 trillion yen.

Losses on investments in affiliates such as Hutchison 3G UK nearly halved to 324.2 billion yen. “Unfortunately not only the overseas companies we invested in but also the whole market is in a bad state after the bursting of the telecoms bubble,” said Tachikawa.