Softbank mobile phone

Softbank is trying to turn around its mobile phone unit, the smallest out of the three operators in Japan, which it bought for close to 2 trillion yen ($16.6 billion) from Britain's Vodafone Group Plc ast year.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo after a meeting, Son declined to comment on speculation his company would sell Apple Inc's iPhone in Japan.

Last week, shares in Softbank rose on speculation it would be the most likely local partner for iPhone, a much anticipated wireless device equipped with the popular iPod digital music player.

Although Son, the billionaire founder of Softbank, declined to provide details on the possible iPhone launch, he said Japan's wireless standard was different from the one adopted for the iPhone, made by AT&T Inc.'s Cingular Wireless in the United States.

A company source told Reuters earlier this week that Son, who is said to be a good friend of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, had attended the Macworld expo held in San Francisco last week, where the U.S. consumer electronics maker presented the iPhone.

Analysts have speculated iPhones may be the next step for Softbank, which last year began selling some of its handsets packaged together with Apple's iPod nano and shuffle players.

Despite the global hype, however, some industry sources have said iPhones may have a limited impact in Japan, where music phones are already very popular. Many existing models hook up to high-speed networks and allow direct downloading of entire songs in merely a few minutes.

Softbank plans to unveil the new handsets on January 25, more than a week after NTT DoCoMo Inc. presented their latest line-up for the spring season, which includes the peak month of March, the end of the financial and academic year in Japan.

"We're preparing many models that are lots of fun," Son said without elaborating further.

Softbank would have to match the rival's new models unveiled on Tuesday, including DoCoMo's thinnest-ever high-speed handset, a phone featuring a touch-sensitive screen and a wide selection of digital TV devices from KDDI.

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