Europe-Japan. news. events

  • Yamaha Motor Middle Europe B.V. (YMME) Foundation 28 November 2007 Start of business 1 January 2008 €18,000 (¥2.9 million) Capital ratio: 60% Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. (wholly owned by Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd) 40% Mitsui Automotive Europe B.V. (wholly owned by Mitsui & Co Ltd) Sales € 450 million (estimate for FY2008) Number of employees…

  • Sumitomo Chemical to acquire CDT for US$ 285 million in cash Sumitomo Chemical (住友化学株式会社) acquired Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) under a merger agreement, paying an acquisition price of US$ 285 million in cash. 1998: Sumitomo Chemical starts P-OLED development 2001: Sumitomo Chemical and CDT Ltd (fully owned subsidiary of CDT Inc) enter into a cooperation…

  • 50 Years European Union 50 years European Union – 50 Years Treaty of Rome Today was the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome which was at the beginning of the European Union. The Treaty of Rome (Wikipedia) (“Treaty establishing the European Economic Community”) was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg,…

    50 years EU celebration in Tokyo
  • Tokyo Tower was illuminated in green color on St Patrick’s Day – (when I took these photographs a Japanese policeman guarding the Russian Embassy nearby asked me if Tokyo Tower from now on will always be green – so I explained St. Patrick’s Day to the Japanese policeman): I took these photographs standing close to…

    Green Tokyo Tower on St. Patrick’s Day
  • Presentation at the Lunch meeting of the Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Japan (FCCJ) on March 16, 2007 at the Westin Hotel, Tokyo. Find the summary and photos of the meeting here Download the presentation here From the Announcement: In his presentation, Dr. Fasol will explain the essentials of Japan’s mobile phone market, why and…

  • The EU-Japan Center for Industrial Cooperation held a 5-day intensive course in Japan for executives from EU firms between Monday 19th February – Friday 23rd February, 2007 on foreign direct investment in Japan. On Monday 19th February Gerhard Fasol gave a talk “Trends in high technology in Japan”, covering the following points: “Japan is a…

    Trends in high technology in Japan (EU mission on foreign direct investment in Japan)
  • QR codes were developed in the 1990s to manage car parts – today they are by far the best way to link mobile phones to almost anything. In many applications QR codes are cheaper, easier, more flexible and more secure than RFID and NFC. The European Central Bank (based in Frankfurt) manages the EURO, is…

    European Central Bank (ECB) uses QR-codes
  • Eurotechnology’s CEO was invited to attend Ericsson’s Strategy & Technology Summit in Tokyo on November 15, 2006. Ericsson’s CEO, Carl-Henric Svanberg, Ericsson CSO – Chief of Strategy, Japan-CEO Rory Buckley and other Ericsson top management presented Ericsson’s strategy and vision. About 100 investors and investment bank analysts were invited to attend. I was given the…

  • Nidec agreed with Valeo SA to acquire Valeo’s Motors & Actuators (VMA) business for approximately €142 million. The acquisition was agreed on November 14, 2006, and the transaction was completed on December 27, 2006. Reasons for the acquisition Nidec acquires sales and business channels into the automotive industry, where track record is required Talent acquisition…

    Nidec acquires Valeo SA’s motors and actuators business for €142 million
  • October 27, 2006 the Finland-Japan Ubiquitous Society Conference was held in Tokyo. Tero Ojanpera, Exec VP and CTO of NOKIA, gave an overview of NOKIA’s vision of communications, other speakers and panelists included Juho Lipsanen, Finland CEO of TeliaSonera, KDDI Chairman Murakami. The day before I briefed and had a long discussion with the top…

  • The day before the Finland-Japan Ubiquitous Society Conference in Tokyo, I briefed the top-management (CEO, CTO and other top managers) of TeliaSonera, on October 26, 2006. The next day, October 27, 2006, the Finland-Japan Ubiquitous Society Conference was held. Tero Ojanpera, Exec VP and CTO of NOKIA, gave an overview of NOKIA’s vision of communications,…

  • by Gerhard Fasol Following Vodafone’s decision to end business in Japan and the announcement of the sale of Vodafone-Japan to SoftBank, this author has been asked to brief the Technology Attaches of the 25 EU Embassies in Tokyo on Japan’s mobile phone and telecom sector. The EU Technology Attaches were particularly interested in the impact…

    Briefing EU Technology Attaches to Japan about Japan’s telecom sector – unspoken question: Why did Vodafone fail in Japan?
  • Vodafone sells Japan operations to Softbank by Gerhard Fasol Vodafone brand is replaced by the Softbank brand “SoftBank” replaces “Vodafone” brand in Japan following Vodafone’s decision to sell all Japan operations to the Softbank Group (after Vodafone had previously split off and sold fixed-line and other operations to Softbank in earlier transactions). Photographs below show…

    Vodafone brand disappears from Japan: Vodafone -> SoftBank rebranding
  • Vodafone sold Japan operations to SoftBank by Gerhard Fasol The Vodafone brand is replaced by the SoftBank brand all over Japan Saturday June 10, 2006 was the first time we saw SoftBank replacing the Vodafone brand in Japan – bringing a formal end to Europe’s largest ever investment in Japan. Vodafone’s withdrawal from Japan is…

    Implementing Vodafone’s departure from Japan: SoftBank starts rebranding Vodafone in Japan
  • As a consequence of our CEO’s briefing entitled “Why Japan is several years ahead of Europe in telecommunications and what Europe can do to catch up” on March 23, 2006 for the Technology Attaches of the Embassies of the 25 European Union countries here in Tokyo our company has been awarded a project contract by…

    EU Government contract awarded: benchmarking broadband/FTTH in EU vs Japan
  • Today, Monday April 24, 2006 at 7:30am, IKEA invited about 300 guests to celebrate the opening of the first 100% IKEA-owned IKEA store in Japan. We had the honor of working for IKEA – IKEA is another company that “thinks different” in so many creative ways. We wish them all the best in Japan! IKEA…

  • by Gerhard Fasol Investor AB’s corporate academy Novare requested education about Japan’s technology industry sector Eurotechnology Japan KK educates 30 CFOs of Investor AB portfolio companies about Japan April 24, 2006 was my Swedish Day: for breakfast I was invited to IKEA’s opening party for their new store in Funabashi (I met even with the…

  • and what can Europe do to catch up? Presentation to EU Technology Attaches at the Embassy of the European Union in Tokyo by Gerhard Fasol by Gerhard Fasol Today (March 23, 2006) I was invited to brief the Technology Attaches of the Embassies of the 25 European Union countries here in Tokyo about Japan’s telecommunications…

    Why Japan is several years ahead of EU in telecoms and broadband?
  • Vodafone made the largest ever European investment in Japan by Gerhard Fasol Why did Vodafone fail so dramatically in Japan? Quick answer Vodafone failed in Japan not for one single reason but for hundreds of reasons, which can be grouped into two groups Long answer Find a long answer in this blog post below, in…

    EU investments in Japan: Why did Vodafone fail in Japan?
  • Negotiations between SoftBank and Vodafone about sale of Vodafone Japan confirmed by Gerhard Fasol Bloomberg: Vodafone-Japan CEO Tsuda seeks growth in Japan, not sale About one year ago, in an interview with Bloomberg (“Vodafone KK’s Tsuda seeks growth in Japan, not sale“), I mentioned that a sale of Vodafone’s Japan operations to Softbank might be…

    Vodafone in Japan? Why did Vodafone change its mind about Japan?
  • Was interviewed today about the announced JV between SANYO and Nokia for CDMA2000 phone handsets (I added some corrections here): [Q1] How will SANYO benefit from this, since they are the ones who have the technology, what do they hope to gain from working with Nokia? Or is this merely a way to reduce costs…

  • Lanxess continues refocussing following spin-out from Bayer Textiles business moves to Asia On 17 November 2005, Lanxess (Köln, Germany) and Asahi Kasei Fibers Corporation (Osaka, Japan) announced the planned sale of Lanxess’ Dorlastan business to Asahi Kasei Fibers Corporation. Lanxess’ Dorlastan division includes production sites at Dormagen, Germany, and in Bushy Park, South Carolina, USA:…

  • The SonyEricsson mobile phone design team gave a very impressive presentation of their work at the Swedish Embassy yesterday. Here is Art Director Mr Kawagoi, who created the famous SonyEricsson logo, explaining the messages contained in his creation: Here Swedish Managers of the SonyEricsson Creative Design Center from Lund/Sweden: My conclusion: expect a lot more…

  • Today’s top article in Nikkei is about Cable and Wireless-Japan: the article reports that Cable and Wireless is in discussion with Softbank and a private equity firm to sell their Japan operations. Apparently this news article is not confirmed, and it already mentions a purchase prize on the order of US$ 100 million. This article…

  • An article in The Economist about Vodafone is partly based on our analysis: “Vodafone- Not so big in Japan” (The Economist, Sept 30th, 2004) Japan telecommunications industry market report Copyright 1997-2013 Eurotechnology Japan KK All Rights Reserved

    The Economist about 3G and Vodafone in Japan
  • Toshiba Elevators and Finnish KONE invest in each other by Gerhard Fasol Toshiba Elevators sends one Director to KONE’s Board, and KONE sends two Directors to Toshiba Elevator’s Board On December 20, 2001, Toshiba Elevator and KONE announced, that in March 2002,: TELC will issue new shares and increase its capital, and KONE will acquire…

    Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation (TELC) and KONE enter into capital alliance
  • Yamaha Motor Group and Mitsui Trading Group establish Yamaha Motor Deutschland GmbH and Yamaha Motor (UK) Limited In 1971-1972 Yamaha Motor Group and Mitsui Group establish Yamaha Motor Deutschland GmbH in Germany and Yamaha Motor (UK) Limited in UK to import, market and sell Yamaha motor products in UK and Germany: Yamaha Motor Deutschland GmbH:…