DoCoMo halts sales of latest Sony cellphone
By Reuters, 5/11/2001
TOKYO -- Japan's dominant mobile phone service provider NTT DoCoMo Inc
announced on Friday that it has suspended sales of Sony Corp's latest
handset featuring an advanced version of its popular "i-mode" Internet
access service due to a software glitch.
A spokeswoman for NTT DoCoMo said about 420,000 units of the Sony phone
model SO503i have been sold since its launch on March 9 this year, and would
be replaced if customers wished.
She declined to confirm the potential cost of the replacement or say when
sales of the model were likely to resume.
DoCoMo said the glitch could affect a database downloaded into the Sony
phone when a user is upgrading an application that accesses the Internet and
employs Java, a versatile software technology that allows for enhanced
functions.
But such malfunctioning occurs only in very limited cases and the user still
can make phone calls or use ``i-mode'' e-mail or other usual Internet
services, DoCoMo said.
A Sony spokesman said the company wanted to fix the software glitch so sales
of the model could be resumed as soon as possible.
The sales suspension come just when the electronics giant has accelerated
its drive to boost its presence in the handset market by forming an alliance
with Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson.
Neither Sony nor DoCoMo specified the reason for the glitch or said where
responsibility for it lay.
Sony and Ericsson, the world's biggest producer of mobile networks and the
third-largest handset supplier, last month announced they would make mobile
phones together.
The latest DoCoMo announcement came after the Tokyo stock market had closed.
DoCoMo shares fell 2.34 percent to 2.5 million yen, while Sony was up 1.44
percent at 9,880 yen. This compared with the Nikkei 225 share average's 0.19
percent gain on the day.
In February, DoCoMo said it would replace 230,000 of its mobile phones also
featuring the advanced i-mode service made by Matsushita Communication
Industrial Co Ltd.
The February replacement came one week after DoCoMo said it would replace
103,000 handsets from a previous line of models which were also discovered
to have software problems, underscoring the intense pressure that consumer
demand is putting on DoCoMo and its handset suppliers to roll out new
products.
Industry giant DoCoMo boasts more than 23 million users for its i-mode Net
access system, which has driven its profits to record levels and put it at
the forefront of wireless technology.
DoCoMo expects users of its Internet-enabled i-mode phones in Japan to soar
to 29.8 million by the end of the business year to next March, up from the
23.22 million who now browse the Web on its credit card-sized screens.
I-mode is based on existing technology but is seen as a key bridge to
third-generation (3G) services.
On Thursday, DoCoMo began accepting applications for its 3G Net access
mobile phones ahead of the launch of introductory services from May 30. Last
month, it delayed the planned launch of full 3G services to October from May
and decided to offer a trial service to a limited number of users.
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Received on Fri May 11 18:59:26 2001