PRESS RELEASE
09 June 2008
Softbank and Apple to Bring iPhone 3G to Japan on July 11
TOKYO and SAN FRANCISCO—June 9, 2008—Softbank (SBM) and Apple® today announced that the highly anticipated iPhone™ 3G will be available in Japan on July 11. iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast* as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK.
“I am delighted at this opportunity to partner with Apple,” said Masayoshi Son, SBM chairman and CEO. “SBM’s and Apple’s shared vision of promoting the innovative integration of the Internet and mobile phone through the distribution of iPhone is exciting. iPhone has been enthusiastically received around the world, and we think it will be popular in Japan as well.”
“Japan is one of the world’s most advanced mobile markets and we are thrilled to partner with SoftBank to launch iPhone 3G there next month, “ said Tim Cook, Apple’s COO. “iPhone 3G is an amazing product and we think customers in Japan will love it as much as we do.”
*Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.
Softbank was founded in 1981. In 1996, the Group made its full-fledged entry into the Internet industry by establishing “Yahoo! Japan.” In 2001, the Group entered into the broadband business, “Yahoo! BB,” very early and brought dramatic innovation to the Internet environment in Japan. The Group entered into the fixed-line telecommunications business in 2004 and into the mobile communications business as SBM in 2006. Through innovative pricing and attractive product strategies SBM achieved the No. 1 position in net additions for FY 2007 in the Japanese market (number of subscribers 18,952,800 as of the end of May 2008). The Softbank Group contains several hundred Internet related companies, including Japan’s No. 1 portal Yahoo! Japan, Alibaba, which has a dominant market share in the B2B/C2C business in China and has become the “No. 1 Internet Company in Asia.”
- Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh and iPhone are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.