SoftBank may resume sales of Samsung handsets: sources

Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank Corp. will likely resume sales of Samsung Electronics Co.'s mobile phones in Japan this month after a four-year hiatus, industry sources said Tuesday.

According to the sources, SoftBank is expected to supply the Galaxy S6, just released in April, to the Japanese market late this month. Currently, Samsung's new lineup is sold through other rivals, NTT DoCoMo and KDDI.

SoftBank has not been selling Samsung handsets as the firm instead focused on sales of Apple Inc.'s iPhone products as well as other local brands.

Tokyo-based SoftBank officials, however, declined to comment on the plan, adding that it cannot provide any details on the market's prediction.

Industry watchers said that if SoftBank actually releases the Galaxy S6 models through its sales network, the move will lend support to Samsung Electronics in tapping deeper into the market.

Apple is estimated to have taken up nearly half of the Japanese smartphone market in 2014, followed by domestic brands such as Sony Corp. and Sharp Corp. That of Samsung is presumed to hover around only 6 percent. (Yonhap)