Softbank Turns Mobile Business Around

The Eurotechnology Japan Newsletter has sent an analysis of Softbank’s effort with the mobile business it bought from Vodafone — and gives it a good report. It points to three points:
SoftBank’s financial results (operatioal income) look positive
–Subscriber additions went from last to first place (although ARPU is still a problem)
–SoftBank has created a cool new brand to replace Vodafone’s uncool one

The how: Eurotechnology said that in order to do this Softbank offered phones Japanese customers want to own (Vodafone had a global buying policy, which failed in Japan’s advanced market) and invested heavily in 3G rollout. It offered aggressive price plans, invested in retail stores, and solved management and HR issues. It offered content appropriate to the Japanese market (including a link-up with Yahoo Japan, which Softbank partly owns) and focused management on mainstream Japanese customers and core markets.

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