NTT Docomo is the newest mobile phone operator in Japan that markets iPhone terminals, Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), intending to announce this during the conference for the presentation of the device. Unfortunately, the recent agreement concluded between the two companies was not so beneficial for those from Docomo, them losing an impressive number of subscribers because they did not have enough terminals iPhone 5S to cover the existing demand on the market.
NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile phone carrier, lost the most subscribers on record even after adding Apple iPhones to its lineup as it attempts to regain market share from SoftBank and KDDI. DoCoMo lost 66,800 net users in September, the company said in an e-mail today. SoftBank added 270,700 and KDDI 232,700 users, according to the carriers. DoCoMo's share of mobile users slumped to 46 percent in September, compared with 52 percent in 2008, as first SoftBank Corp. and then KDDI Corp. won Japanese consumers with Apple handsets.
The mobile operator lost no less than 67.000 subscribers in September, a record for the company, due to the lack of terminals iPhone 5S from own stocks. Many subscribers put off purchasing a new terminal to wait iPhone 5S, but its absence from Docomo's stocks generated a decision to terminate its contract and choose one of the competing operators, both adding in total over half a million new users in September alone.
DoCoMo attributed the subscriber loss to customers who delayed purchases until after Apple's new mobiles went on sale Sept. 20 and insufficient stock of those handsets, said Atsuko Suzuki, a company spokeswoman. Rival carriers' marketing strategies also hurt sales, she said.
