SoftBank Ties Apple, Developing iPod Phone

SoftBank Corp. went into partnership with Apple Computer Inc. in Japan’s mobile phone business. They will jointly develop new cell-phone units in which iPod music players are built in. The new model is to come to the market by the end of this year.

SoftBank acquired Vodafone’s Japanese subsidiary in April. The new brand name to replace Vodafone, however, remains undisclosed.

“We will add values to cell phones by, for example, installing iPods, in order to strengthen the presence of our brand and to expand our services,” said SoftBank’s President Masayoshi Son at the press conference on May 10. He wishes to make the new model a powerful card to compete against SoftBank’s rivals NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp.