Japanese cell phones for the world: NEC and Panasonic plot new overseas sales plans

Japan, the world's second largest economy with the third biggest Internet population, and the many, many early adopters of technology inhabiting this nation could be heaven for the domestic cell phone industry. And it was for years, until sales started slowing dangerously (minus 30% last fiscal year), and the overall population is poised to shrink and age dramatically in the future. These two developments made a handful of Japanese cell phone makers think about moving away from creating all those fancy Nippon-only phones they've been producing for years. Now NEC and Panasonic seem to be finally ready to export some models - as early as next fiscal year, according to Japan's biggest business newspaper Nikkei.

Tags: Cell Phone, Cell Phone Industry, Cell Phone Makers, cell phones, cgjapan, early adopters, economy, Fiscal Year, Handful, Headline, Heaven, Internet Population, MobileCrunch, Models, Nec, Nikkei, Nippon, panasonic, Panasonic Japan, Sharp