Japanese Tech Stock Weekly Summary

The following is excerpted from IRG's weekly stock report:

Media, Entertainment and Gaming

• Sega, a Japanese game company, announced its project to help build a massive game arcade in Dubai. The game arcade is expected to be the largest in the world and is now under construction. Sega, a unit of the Sega Sammy group (SGAMY.PK), said it had signed an agreement with Emaar Malls Group LLC of the United Arab Emirates to build the two-floor arcade inside the Dubai Mall later this year. Under the license agreement, Sega will offer development and management know-how to Emaar Malls Group, which will build and operate the facility. Sega said the arcade is designed to occupy some 7,000 square meters (75,350 square feet) of the shopping mall. Sega said it looks to the new deal to open new opportunities.

• Gonzo Rosso, an online game operator in the GDH media group, announced its launching of RAN Online game in Vietnam. The beta service starts in mid-January, with the full commercial launch scheduled for the end of the month. The company will offer RAN Online via its Kuala Lumpur-based subsidiary GoldSky Access, which also operates the game in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. RAN Online is an MMORPG licensed to GoldSky for operation in Southeast Asia by Korean game developer Min Communications. GoldSky specializes in the online game licensing business including localization/culturalization of in-game events and billing processes. Gonzo Rosso's other areas of business include development/operation of online merchandise store. G.D.H. is a globally-focused Japanese media company, which produces entertainment for teenagers and young adults through its Gonzo animation brand.

Internet

• eAccess Ltd. is reportedly using its newly acquired stake in rival ACCA Networks Co Ltd. to demand that ACCA replace its top managers with officials from eAccess. Earlier, eAccess beat NTTC to become the top shareholder in ACCA. The proposal specified that replacement be sought for ACCA President Masaharu Kimura and two other officials. eAccess holds a 13.1 percent stake in ACCA. The company said it looks to a new management that is more open to working with eAccess in ADSL broadband Internet access and wireless services.

Mobile/Wireless

• KDDI's mobile WiMax joint venture, Wireless Broadband Planning K.K., announced that it is near to closing on its vendor choices for a US$1.3 billion mobile WiMax network in Japan. Leading the candidates are Fujitsu Ltd. (FJTSY.PK) and Samsung Corp. The decision is expected to be out by March. A technology officer at Airspan Networks Inc. (AIRN) called Japan as having the “biggest Wimax game in town.” Wireless Broadband Planning's investors are KDDI, Intel Capita, East Japan, Kyocera Corp., Intel Capital, East Japan Railway Company, Daiwa Securities Group Inc., and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. KDDI's WiMax joint venture, Wireless Broadband Planning, was awarded a national WiMax license at 2.5 GHz at the end of last year, with the venture committing an investment of US$145 billion yen (US$1.3 billion) through March 2014. The other license winner is personal handyphone system [PHS] operator Willcom, which plans to invest US$1.7 billion over six years on a next-generation PHS network at 2.5 GHz.

• Openwave Systems Inc. (OPWV) announced a joint collaboration with Japanese Internet start-up, Zero Start Communications Co. Ltd, to launch a new mobile Mini-Blog service. The service is dubbed "chopi" in Japan. Under the agreement, Openwave's carrier-grade, standards-based converged communications platform will serve as the messaging engine powering Zero Start's chopi Mini-Blog service. Zero Start's chopi Mini-Blog service enables users to join communities, view other user's comments, and communicate with friends, family members and others via their mobile device. The chopi Mini-Blog service also offers consumers closed community portal pages along with search engine and private messaging. Headquartered in Tokyo, Zero Start provides software products and software engineering for the Internet media industry, and web services in Japan.

• According to NEC Corp. (NIPNY), Japan's largest personal-computer maker, the company together with Sumitomo Corp. has won a contract to supply wireless communications systems to Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA, Italy's third-largest mobile-phone company. Based in Rome, the operator holds an 18 percent share of Italy's 80.3 million-subscriber mobile market.

Telecommunications

• According to media sources, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) will soon be required to open its fiber optic communications network to competitors. The country’s Ministry of Communications is expected to announce the new guidelines requiring the open network. NTT, which plans to formally launch the next-generation network in March, owns about 70 percent of Japan's telecommunications market. Earlier, the ministry was asked by KDDI Corp and Softbank Corp to open the network for wider use.

Ventures/Investments

• Motorola Inc. (MOT) announced its acquisition of Vertex Standard Co. Ltd., a Japanese 2-way radio maker. Under the tender offer, Motorola will pay an estimated 12 billion yen (US$112 million) in cash for 5.4 million shares. After the purchase, Motorola will own 78 percent of Vertex.

Disclaimer: IRG is not responsible for the accuracy of the news compiled within this article, which is based on publicly available information.