DoCoMo are paying US $7-800 per handset at the factory gate. J-Phone are
paying more.
As for buying handsets 'without a contract' - if you think about it,
actually there's no such thing. You can only use a DoCoMo handset with the
DoCoMo network. So even if you buy a 503-series in Akihabara for $200,
'without a contract', you still need a DoCoMo contract to use it! You go
down the road to get the contract - but you still get it.
This is why rates in Japan are so high - you're paying back that $500
subsidy. It's also a big problem for doing prepay - which is what drove
Europe from 50% penetration to 70%.
-Benedict Evans
-WestLB Panmure
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Received on Mon Sep 3 12:15:17 2001