TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Toshiba Corp. said Monday it was launching a subsidiary aimed at tapping the new business of providing Internet services to mobile telephones.
The i-Value Creation Co., one of a raft of Internet investments expected to total 250 billion yen ($2.3 billion) in the three years to March 2004, would focus on mobile web services, it said. "The i-Value Creation Company sees the forthcoming launch of IMT 2000, the next generation of cellular phone standard, as a major opportunity," Toshiba said in a statement.
The new firm's Webtop Service Division aimed to develop businesses to take advantage of the next-generation mobile phone standard, which allows users to access the Internet from anywhere, the statement said. "Not only is this expected to stimulate expanded Internet use but its promotion of mobile terminals plays to one of Toshiba's greatest strengths," said the major personal computer maker.
The in-house subsidiary would launch with 200 people, expanding to 500 by the fiscal year to March 2004 when sales were forecast to total 15 billion yen, Toshiba said.
Most of the i-Value revenue would come from advertising, said a company spokeswoman. "One area where Toshiba will soon launch next-generation services is in provision of stock prices and investment trust information to mobile users," Toshiba said.
The company would partner Nihon Short-Wave Broadcasting Co. Ltd. in providing the infrastructure to support the emergence of stock trading over mobile phones. "In the first of an expected series of such agreements, Toshiba today entered into an agreement with Matsui Securities Co. Ltd., the pioneer of online Internet-based stock trading in Japan, to provide mobile Internet stock information services to Matsui's customers," said the Toshiba statement.
The i-Value firm would also have a Media and Content Division promoting new services for the Internet. Toshiba would tap its alliances with global leaders to provide content, it said. "In particular, it will seek to further its partnership with AOL-Time Warner and to reinforce music services in cooperation with Warner-EMI," the statement added.
Besides i-Value, Toshiba said it would also set up for corporate Internet users an e-Net division within its existing in-house firm Information and Industrial Systems and Services Co. The division was expected to rake in annual sales of 35 billion yen by the fiscal year to March 2004, providing businesses with Internet platforms and with new services such as Internet accounting and commerce. Overall, Toshiba said it expected Internet-related sales in the fiscal year to March 2004 of 500 billion yen
Newswires
