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Japan - Prada looks to crack Japan's cellphone wall Source: The Wall Street Journal, 02 May 2008 Prada SpA said NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's top mobile operator by subscribers, on 23 May will begin selling the Prada phone, an exclusive model created by the Italian luxury brand and South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. This will be the latest evidence of foreign cellphone makers' increased efforts to expand business in Japan, a market that has been notoriously difficult to crack. Industry observers said phones such as the Prada phone represent foreign mobile-phone makers' best chance for success, mainly because Prada is an established brand in Japan. Japanese consumers are known for their avid following of foreign luxury brands such as Prada, Louis Vuitton and Coach, and luxury spending has been strong, even though consumers have been cautious about spending in general. The country is the world's largest market for luxury goods. China - Lenovo going on buying spree to regain ranking Source: Business Times, 03 May 2008 Lenovo Group Ltd is seeking acquisitions to regain the world's third-largest personal-computer seller ranking lost to Acer Inc in 2007. The company that shot to prominence with the 2005 purchase of International Business Machines Corp's PC unit, had its European expansion plans foiled iin 2007 when Acer bought Packard Bell BV. Computer makers such as Fujitsu Siemens Computers (Holding) BV may be a target for Lenovo. Lenovo's current market value is HK$58.3 billion (US$7.5 billion), about 6% of the size of industry leader Hewlett-Packard Co. Acer is valued at NT$163.3 billion (US$5.4 billion).  India - Maxis readies US$5 billion to expand in India Source: telecomasia.net, 06 May 2008 Malaysia's top mobile phone firm, Maxis Communications, plans to invest US$4 billion - US$5 billion by 2009-10 to expand its network in India. Maxis holds 74% in Aircel Cellular, which operates in 10 telecom circles in India. India is the world's fastest growing mobile market where telecom firms added a record 10.2 million wireless subscribers in March, taking the total to 261.1 million, behind only China that had 540.5 million users at end February 2008. Aircel will build 14,000 telecom towers in 2008-09 to expand its network. Aircel said it had 10.8 million subscribers in India and had posted revenues of $500 million in 2007.   View an example of our experience in this industry. Back to list of articles.  Visit our website to sign up for free intelligence on Asian markets.

This Weekly News Update is a free newsletter, providing a round-up of the week's Asia-Pacific news from our core industry practices. If you have colleagues or friends who may be interested in subscribing, please forward this email to them and copy knowledge@fusionc.com.

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