Carlyle-controlled Japanese handy-phone firm Willcom Inc. rolled out the world's first phones featuring Intel Corp's Centrino Atom microprocessors, as it fights for new users in a saturated market.Willcom, which held 4 percent of Japan's mobile market at the end of March, said it aims to grab an annual 50,000 to 100,000 users with its D4 phone, which runs Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista operating system.
Dwarfed in a market dominated by mobile phone carriers NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp., Willcom has been focusing on high-end, pricey phones with PC-like capabilities targeting corporate users and students.
It has so far sold 150,000 to 200,000 such smartphones in three years. Willcom's user base numbered 4.6 million at the end of March.
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