Word: modelied
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...attack is the best defence, then President Jacques Chirac must be feeling a bit defensive these days. With the first round of France's presidential election set for April 21, the incumbent went into offensive mode last week by announcing his intention to seek re-election. And he did it in true Chirac style: big on gesture, short on ideas. "I am driven by passion," he said on national television. "I love France, and I love the French. I want to be the candidate of union and renewal...
...mode is no longer a hot new product?and DoCoMo no longer sparkles as one of the few diamonds in Japan's rough economy. The company is proving susceptible to shrinking growth rates, a syndrome that already afflicts carriers in many markets worldwide. I-mode subscription growth is expected to ease to 46% annually for the fiscal year ending this March, down by one-third from last May. Japanese are not signing up for cell-phone services of any kind as quickly as they were, and those who already subscribe are spending less per month. The slowdown has contributed...
...protect its lead, DoCoMo has been forced to spend more in sales commissions and handset subsidies, narrowing profit margins. Compounding the com-pany's problems is a disturbing dip in the all-important average revenue per user, called the ARPU in industry lingo. Thanks in part to i-mode, Japan's cell-phone users spend more on wireless services than their counterparts elsewhere in the world?about $63 per month compared with $53 in the U.S., for example. But recession-weary Japanese are cutting back on spending by going without or substituting cheaper wireless e-mail for expensive voice calls...
...There's more than revenue growth at stake. There's national pride. Japan's prolonged recession threatens to relegate the country to second-class status among industrialized nations. By selling its i-mode and 3G know-how overseas, DoCoMo hopes to spread the mobile Internet?seeding the market for homegrown Japanese technology and boosting the country's status as an info-age innovator. "With DoCoMo and i-mode, you've got a global brand recognition and excitement over a new product that you haven't seen since the Sony Walkman," says Kirk Boodry, telecom analyst for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein...
...Nevertheless, DoCoMo is pushing ahead. KPN plans to launch its i-mode platform this spring in the Netherlands and Belgium, and E-Plus in Germany?a mobile operator owned partly by KPN?will follow shortly thereafter. DoCoMo also announced plans late last month to list its stock on the New York and London exchanges. Tachikawa says listing in New York and London will boost DoCoMo's visibility on the world stage and increase the liquidity of its shares. The company has hinted that funds raised through the offerings could be used for acquisitions in Asia...