Professional Luncheon:
Gerhard Fasol, Eurotechnology Japan KK;
Tetsuzo Matsumoto, SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp.

The speech and Q & A will be in English.

Will The iPhone Trigger A Turning Point In Japan's Mobile Phone Industry?

Apple's 3G iPhone went on sale in early July with a splash. Eager buyers had lined up in front of stores for days hoping to be among the first to get their hands on one. Softbank Mobile, Japan's exclusive iPhone carrier, gleefully reported completely selling out all available iPhones. (The company cagily never revealed how many had been available.) But one month on, are iPhone sales holding up? Is it really an improvement over what's been available here for years? Can the iPhone go head-to-head with mobile phones from Japan's own telecoms equipment makers?

To answer to these questions, this professional luncheon has been scheduled for just days after July mobile phone subscriber numbers and the latest quarterly results for carriers will be available. Giving the bullish view on iPhone will be Tetsuzo (Ted) Matsumoto, a senior executive vice president for Softbank Mobile. Matsumoto, who was previously president of Qualcomm Japan and a senior vice president of its parent company, will explain why Softbank believes the iPhone is an historic Internet machine. Long-time mobile industry expert Gerhard Fasol will give a more detached analysis of Japan's mobile phone market and the give-and-take effect the iPhone might have. Fasol, a Ph.D. semiconductor physicist who has been working with Japan's high-tech and telecom sectors since 1984, says Japan's mobile phone market is something like the Galapagos Islands because its isolation allowed for an idiosyncratic evolutionary path to mobile phone services that are 3 to 5 years ahead of anything offered elsewhere. He thinks that by competing in Japan, Apple could learn how to make the iPhone platform stronger in other markets. Observers of Japan's high-tech markets will not want to miss this luncheon.

Sandwich: Pastrami & emmental wrap with roast onion, tomato, lettuce & green salad.
Hot Lunch: Bacon wrapped roast mahi mahi, garlic fried wild rice, sauteed spinach & pineapple relish with green salad & bread.
Dining Room Special: Grilled rib eye steak, wild mushroom ragout, gorgonzola soft polenta & grilled vegetables with green salad, bread and dessert.

Gerhard Fasol & Tetsuzo Matsumoto