TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese mobile service providers have started a comics service on cellphones following the huge success of the business in nearby Japan.
Chunghwa Telecom, the island’s largest phone company, began offering a cartoon service last month mainly about boxers and warriors, using the technology of Celsys Inc., a Japanese company that develops browser software for mobile content distributors.
Rival Taiwan Mobile Co. signed a contract with Cartoon Network to have its popular shows “Powerpuff Girls” and “Ben 10” remade into comics for handset users to download and view, the first such venture by the Time Warner Inc.-owned network. The service started last month.
Taiwan Mobile also offers its clients “The Legend of the Three Kingdoms,” a popular Japanese comic book based on the classic Chinese story of war and revenge.
The two firms are among major mobile service providers promoting the new service at the Comic Exhibition in Taipei, a four-day trade show that has attracted tens of thousands of cartoon fans.
Industry sources said the comics-on-phone business generated $90 million in revenues in Japan in 2006. Taiwan, with a population of 23 million compared to 127 million in Japan and less sophisticated cellphone users, hopes to reach one-fifth or one-tenth of that figure in five years, they said.
“Viewing comics on cellphones is a different experience,” said Christina Hsieh, a Taiwan Mobile official. “For instance, a punch in the head would have a dramatic effect with a loud bang and vibration.”
Already, more than 10,000 cellphone users downloaded the comics in July, the first month the service was launched, she said.
Hu Hueuh-hai, deputy head of Chunghwa Telecom’s mobile service, said his company offers mainly works by Japanese authors — popular comics featuring boxers or warriors.
“Many Japanese authors provide the cellphone versions that would spare the remake from comic books,” he said.
A three-day test of the service costs 135 New Taiwan dollars ($4.50), Hu said.
As in Japan, the service mainly caters to junior and senior high school students who want a moment of relaxation from the pressures of studying, he said.
A potential cash cow — adult comics or films — will not be considered for now because of a Taiwanese ban on pornography, Hu said.
Taiwanese firms are also planning to introduce the mobile animated films service.
“This may take a while,” Hu said. “We launched the service of viewing videos on cellphones two years ago but it has not been so popular.”