Asia Express - Mobile Communications
Sharp Mulls Selling Digital TV Phones in Brazil in 2010
May 22, 2009
Sharp is planning to sell mobile phones that support Japan's terrestrial DTV (Digital TV) broadcasting system, called ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting), in Brazil by 2010 at the earliest, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on May 22, citing Sharp President Mikio Katayama. Should this plan go as planned, this will mark the first time that a Japanese company sells such phones in South America. Brazil uses the same terrestrial digital TV broadcasting system as Japan since 2006, which allows Brazilian users to access digital TV broadcasting services on the move by means of Sharp's digital TV phones. Further details of the phones, however, were not yet disclosed. Meanwhile, Sharp aims to achieve a 2.5-fold increase in overseas sales of mobile phones and reach four million units in the fiscal year 2009, which runs from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010, according to the same source.