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Yamaha Launches "Melo-Ring" Ringer Melody Distribution Service in Taiwan
Tie-Up with Taiwan Cellular Corporation produces the first overseas launch of a Japanese ringer melody distribution service |
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Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka, November 14, 2000—Yamaha Corporation today announced the launch of a new business giving cellular phone users in Taiwan the choice of hundreds of different melodies for their handset ringers.
The new service, called Yamaha Melo-Ring, will debut at the end of November under a tie-up between Yamaha Corp, the world's largest manufacturer of musical instruments, and Taiwan Cellular Corporation (TCC), Taiwan's top cellular phone carrier.
The introduction of Yamaha Melo-Ring marks the first launch abroad of a Japanese cell-phone ringer-melody distribution service.
Owners of TCC cellular phone handsets will be able to personalize their phones by selecting different ringer melodies from among some 500 Chinese, Japanese and Western tunes available. The service will be available for subscribers possessing Nokia brand cellular handsets.
Every month Yamaha and TCC will offer between 30 and 40 new melodies and subscribers will be able to download up to five melodies per month for as little as NT$30 or approximately US$1.
The partners in this unique venture expect to attract 300,000 new subscribers to the service every month and generate the equivalent of $2 million in sales during the first year of business. |
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| Background |
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Yamaha launched its ringer-melody distribution service in Japan in March 2000 and has since assembled a selection of some 4,000 melodies. Over one million people from among the three Japanese cellular carriers had used the service as of October 20.
For some time Yamaha has been involved in negotiations with a number of potential partners to raise its profile in this business beyond Japan – and particularly in Asia – by effectively exploiting its massive ringer-melody data assets.
In anticipation of moving into Asian markets, Yamaha has been developing Chinese and other Asian melodies to augment its lineup of tunes for those areas. Yamaha's determination to introduce the service in the Asian region coincided with TCC's search for a partner to help it enhance its selection of content services, and a mutually beneficial tie-up resulted.
Taiwan has some 16 million cellular phone users among its population of 23 million. TCC commands the top share of this market with 4.8 million subscribers or 31%.
Yamaha commissioned the local staff of Yamaha KHS Music Co., Ltd, a joint venture in Taiwan, to develop some of the Chinese ringer melodies the service will provide to TCC.
George Wu, Senior Vice President of TCC, commenting on the launch of the new ringer-melody distribution said: "Yamaha is the world's leading musical instrument and multimedia company. This alliance represents a significant endorsement of TCC's wide range of subscriber services. The broad range of songs available, from Chinese local tunes to the latest Japanese pops, will neatly personalize subscribers' handy phones. TCC can offer our subscribers an opportunity for a new type of entertainment with handy phones."
Masatada Wachi, Chief Technology Officer of Yamaha commented: "We are very pleased to launch our first overseas ringer-melody service with the largest cellular phone carrier in Taiwan. I'm sure that the ringer-melody distribution will be well accepted not only among young people but over all age groups."
Yamaha sees the startup of the service in Taiwan as a springboard for its expansion of ringer-melody distribution and other cellular phone services in Asia and the global market.
Visit Yamaha's website at http://www.yamaha.co.jp/english/
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| Profile of Taiwan Cellular Corporation (TCC) |
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Name: Taiwan Cellular Corporation
Offices: 18F, No.169, Sec.4, Jen-Ai Rd., Taipei
URL: http://www.twngsm.com.tw/
Established: February 25, 1997
Chairman: Jack T. Sun
President: Joseph Fan
Turnover: NT$27,184,210,316 (approx. ¥95 billion; figures for January–December 1999)
Subscribers: 4.8 million
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For editorial information, please contact:
Kyoko Fujii
Dentsu Public Relations Inc.
E-mail: kfujii@dpr.co.jp
For information about Yamaha's ringer melody service, please contact:
Keiichi (Ken) Kimura
Digital Contents Promotion Group Yamaha Corporation
Email: kimurak1@emi.yamaha.co.jp
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