Softbank To Market iPhone In Japan

According to reports in the Japan financial daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Softbank's Masoayoshi Son has an agreement with Steve Jobs to market an iPod cell phone or iPhone for Japan as early as this year.

Softbank has not denied the reports and called the reports "speculative". Business Week quotes a source close to Apple as saying "the two sides have been taking in the recent months". Softbank recently aquired Vodaphone's Japan business in a $15 billion deal. For Apple, this would allow them to have an instant presence in the mobile music download section.