NTT Docomo increased its targets for the year to 31 March 2012, driven by a strong performance in its smartphone activities. It also announced a new medium-term strategy, which sees it targeting 40 million smartphone subscriptions and 30 million LTE connections in the year to March 2016.

In the first half of the year, the Japanese number one operator sold 3.63 million smartphones, up 44 percent compared to its full-year 2010 sales (it sold 2.52 million units in the 12 months). It is now targeting smartphone sales of 8.5 million units for the current year, compared with an earlier forecast of 6 million units.

At 30 September 2011, the company had 390,000 Xi (LTE) subscriptions, with a full-year target of 1.3 million. It is in the process of the “enrichment” of its 4G device portfolio, which already includes dongles and a Wi-Fi router, with tablets and smartphones set to launch imminently.

For the six months to 30 September 2011, the company reported a net income of JPY299 billion (US$3.83 billion), down 3.5 percent from JPY309.7 billion, on operating revenue of JPY2.11 trillion, down 1.2 percent from JPY2,14 trillion. For the six months, mobile service revenue decreased by 1.5 percent to JPY1.7 trillion from JPY1.74 trillion.

For the full year, it is forecasting a net income of JPY514 billion, up 4.8 percent year-on-year, on revenue of JPY4.24 trillion, up 0.4 percent. This represents a JPY10 billion increase in its revenue forecast. It is already more than half way toward its net income target, and just under half way toward reaching its operating revenue goal.

In line with its new “Shaping a Smart Life” strategy, which covers the period to the end of fiscal 2015, Docomo said it intends to offer “flexible and expandable services and content in an open environment,” and offer a “diverse line-up of devices centred on smartphones.” It is also planning to create a “highly stable data-communication environment” through the expansion of its LTE network.

It is looking to function as an integrated services company, with the intention to “drive innovation through convergence with various industries and services by collaborating with alliance partners, especially in fields that offer great synergy with Docomo’s mobile business.” Target areas include media/content, finance/payment, medical/healthcare and M2M.

Through this, it aims to raise revenue from new business of around JPY1 trillion by fiscal 2015, an approximately 2.5 times increase over fiscal 2011 (the current period).