TOKYO-Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. reported slightly increased year-on-year operating income for the fiscal year ending March 31, but predicted a decline in sales for the current year. It also said its FOMA third-generation subscriber numbers reached 3.05 million.
DoCoMo said operating income for the fiscal year was $9.8 billion, a 4.4-percent year-on-year growth, and net income hit $5.8 billion, up 206 percent year on year. However, the carrier expects operating income for the current fiscal year to total only $7.4 billion, a 24.7-percent decline compared with the previous year. The carrier cited its plans for rate cuts this year due to the highly competitive Japanese wireless market for the expected income decline.
After a sluggish start, DoCoMo said its 3G subscriber figures had picked up due to brisk sales of its latest FOMA 900i series handsets. The carrier said it plans to increase its 3G subscriber base to 10.6 million by March 31, 2005.
DoCoMo’s i-mode user base hit 41 million, or 90 percent of its total cellular subscribers.
