Japanese mobile phones are a gadget lover’s dream. They double as credit cards. They can display digital TV broadcasts. Some are even fitted with solar cells.And yet, for all their innovations, Japanese-made handsets have had little impact overseas. They account for just a sliver of a global mobile phone market dominated by the likes of Apple, Research In Motion and Samsung.
But now the Japanese phone industry hopes to go global – by adopting Google’s red-hot Android mobile operating system.
“We have the technology to compete in the United States,” said Naoki Shiraishi, who led software development for a new line of Android smart phones from Sharp, the largest Japanese cell phone maker. “It’s finally time for Sharp phones to go play in the major leagues.”
Sony Ericsson, NEC and Kyocera are among the other Japanese handset makers also betting on Android as their path to international sales.
While Android was initially overshadowed by the popular iPhone from Apple, its user numbers are now soaring. In 2010, global sales of Android phones reached 67.2 million units, ahead of iPhones, which sold 46 million units, according to the research company Gartner.
