MySpace to launch in Japan with Softbank

[bill]

MySpace to launch in Japan with Softbank [news.yahoo.com]
News Corp.'s MySpace.com online service will be launched in Japan in a joint venture with Japanese Internet and telecoms group Softbank Corp., the Nihon Keizai business daily reported on Monday.

The 50-50 venture, to be called MySpace Japan, will first offer services for personal computers and later allow users to post photos and write blogs via cell phones, the paper said.

Community sites in Japan have big followings. Mixi [webmasterworld.com]'s recent IPO is evidence of this. Will MySpace Japan be too late to the party, or is there still room in this sector for more players?

Here is the Japanese test site:
[jp.myspace.com ]
No word yet whether this will be the permanent URL.

[bill]

The latest conjecture on this deal is that SoftBank will be offering MySpace Japan on mobile phones [usatoday.com]. This would be an entirely logical way to proceed as SoftBank controls not only Yahoo Japan, but also Vodaphone (Japan).

The one statistic from that article that gave me pause was the timing of the joint-venture setup. They are looking at September 2007. A lot could happen in that window. Already we're seeing stories of MySpace in the English language world becoming passe among its target market.

[kkobashi]

Softbank Japan and MySpace will form a partnership to bring Japanese internet users into the MySpace community. As some of you may be aware, Yahoo! owns a large stake with Softbank Japan.

More here:
[forbes.com ]

[edited by: Woz at 5:24 am (utc) on Nov. 8, 2006]
[edit reason] Tidying Up. [/edit]