In Japan you can Read comics on your mobile phone
After taking on the big and small screens, comic book heroes like Spiderman and Superman may soon be appearing on an even smaller screen — your mobile phone.
Suit-clad businessmen reading comic books are a common sight on Japanese trains, but they could soon be poring over their phones with publishers increasingly digitalizing their comics to cash in on the country’s mobilesavvy consumers.
The July 11 launch of Apple Inc’s iPhone could also spur the growth of the mobile comic market as the device’s touch-screen would make it easier and more appealing to read comics on handsets, analysts say.
As the number of mobile phone subscribers approaches 108 million, or 85% of Japan’s population, carriers are moving away from voice services, beefing up content services and data transmission to increase revenues.
Emailing, music-downloads and internet surfing are already popular, and analysts expect comics to be the next big thing with the number of titles for mobile use soaring recently.
Comics led the size of the mobile publication market to double in the last business year to $204 million, according to internet and media research firm Impress R&D. The size is almost three times bigger than the e-publication market for PCs. “Until now, users had been extensively using mobile phones for emails,” said Shinko Securities analyst Tomohiko Okugawa said. “Now that’s shifting to games and comics ... this is the area it’s going to be very interesting.”
Top mobile phone carriers in Japan recently unveiled handsets and services, enhancing features like video downloads and animated emails.
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