Mitsubishi to Stop Making Cell Phones

by Shane McGlaun

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced today that it will no longer be manufacturing cell phones that were sold to and distributed by NTT DoCoMo in Japan. Mitsubishi says that this move is to help it shift resources to communication-related businesses.

Mitsubishi says that its mobile handset business was showing a decline in units shipped and it will stop launching new models after the latest new models supplied to NTT DoCoMo. Mitsubishi says that even after exiting the mobile handset business it will still continue to support the D06 lithium ion battery recall it announced in December of 2006.

Mitsubishi forecasts the shipment of about 2.1 million handsets in fiscal 2008 with revenue of about 100 billion yen. All 600 employees of the mobile phone division will be repositioned mostly in Mitsubishi electric’s businesses.

Via Mitsubishi (PDF)