NEC Casio Mobile may reach the US
updated 02:30 pm EDT, Thu May 27, 2010
NEC Casio Mobile to sell phones in the US?
The mobile merger that is NEC, Hitachi and Casio unveiled aggressive expansion plans this week. The resulting company, now called NEC Casio Mobile Communications, plans to ship 12 million handsets in 2012, which represents an increase of 60 percent compared to all phones shipped by the three individual companies in 2009. This expansion may reach the US, with reports suggesting NEC Casio Mobile looking to tie in with Verizon and AT&T.
In Japan, the company plans to work together with the three major national carriers, including DoCoMo, KDDI au and SoftBank Mobile. Four million of the 12 million handsets in 2012 are expected to ship to markets outside of Japan.
Japan's major cellphone makers are suffering from slow sales, as the market shrinks and development costs for building advanced handsets balloon. The country now also has to contend with an influx of smartphones like the iPhone. [via MobileCrunch]
