Softbank

Softbank (ソフトバンク株式会社) is a holding company best known as a Japanese mobile phone and media organization. It is the third largest mobile phone company in Japan, with nearly 3 billion yen in revenue.

Overview

The Softbank Corporation runs several different organizations. It is best known for its subsidiary, Softbank Mobile.

Softbank Mobile

Softbank Mobile (ソフトバンクモバイル株式会社) began as Vodaphone and J-PHONE. It was bought by the Softbank holding company in 2006. It currently has 17 million subscribers, up 4 million since the company was bought. It is currently rumored that they are working with Apple to release the iPhone in Japan.

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks

Softbank is also the primary owner of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, a professional baseball team in the Pacific League. They were purchased by Softbank in 2004. They are the only professional baseball team located in Fukuoka and primarily play in the Pacific league, in the Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.

Other

In addition to their mobile phone business and baseball team, the Softbank Corporation has invested in several offshore companies. They are 40% owners in Yahoo! Japan, as well as partial owners in E-Trade, Morningstar, Betfair, and Gung Ho Online Entertainment.

Company Profile

The company was founded in 1981 and was known Joshin Denki Co., Ltd. The company started out purchasing computer software before expanding its inventory and renaming itself “Softbank” in 1990. For several years the company still invested in I.T. and other software, but started investing in other businesses like Yahoo! In 1996.

Softbank employs 19,040 people in all of its industries, though the company itself only employs 130 people. It has made an estimated 2 trillion yen in sales in the 2008 fiscal year.

External Links

• [http://www.softbank.co.jp Official Homepage, Softbank Corporation==
• Official Homepage, Fukuoka Softbank Hawks