Softbank Corp. announced Thursday that its operating profit for the April-December period rose sevenfold to 197 billion yen from a year earlier following a cut in basic monthly fees and the introduction of more attractive handsets to lure subscribers from rivals in the hotly contested wireless market.
"Softbank is steadily increasing its net subscribers," CEO Masayoshi Son said repeatedly during a news conference in Tokyo. The mobile phone business "is very going well despite the risks that our subscribers may defect to other providers."
Softbank entered the mobile phone business last April when it acquired Vodafone Group's struggling operations.