ntt docomo sign

Japanese news outlet Nikkei published a report on Thursday stating that NTT DoCoMo will offer Apple's iPhone. The report stops short of which model the carrier will sell and whether or not it will offer both the iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5S. Like China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo has held off on offering the iPhone in the past but has not had an official partnership with Apple and has instead preferred to avoid offering the phone on a discount. Because of that, we're guessing the carrier will offer the iPhone 5C off contract first.

A separate report from Nikkei in late August declared that the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C were going to launch in Japan on September 30. It's possible we'll see both of those phones land on KDDI au and SoftBank because both already sell the iPhone.

It may be wise for NTT DoCoMo to warm up to Apple's prized cell phone, however. The carrier lost 3.2 million customers during the past four years, possibly as customers fled for competing carriers that offer the iPhone. A report as early as August 26 had suggested NTT DoCoMo's interests were turning in Apple's favor, so we're not too surprised by today's report.