Softbank leads in new user signups for 3rd month
TOKYO, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Softbank Corp (9984.T), Japan's No.3 wireless carrier, outran its bigger rivals for the third straight month in October in the number of net new users it signed up thanks to demand for Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone.
More people switched carriers from NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T), Japan's biggest wireless carrier, and from No.2 KDDI Corp (9433.T), to sign up with Softbank, Japan's sole supplier of the iPhone, industry data showed on Monday.
Softbank, which bought Vodafone's (VOD.L) Japan unit in 2006, signed up 97,500 new subscribers minus cancellations in October.
No.4 e-Mobile, the mobile arm of eAccess Ltd (9427.T), followed with a net 80,000 new subscribers.
DoCoMo, which is expanding its lineup of smartphones, made a net gain of 55,100 subscribers. It was hit by a large exodus of users who changed carriers after their two-year contracts with DoCoMo expired in September and October.
KDDI took a net 27,500 new users.
Softbank shares were up 0.2 percent, while eAccess rose 2.1 percent. Shares of DoCoMo, which earlier announced it would buy back up to 160,000 of its own shares for up to 20 billion yen, rose 1.7 percent, and KDDI lost 1.3 percent. (Reporting by Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
