Rakuten's Mobile Technology Worth Watching, Says Wells Fargo Analyst

Japan’s Rakuten is a firm worth watching, Wells Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche told investors. “Rakuten is planning a commercial launch of mobile service which will use cloud-based software and commoditized hardware,” she said Sunday: “If successful it would likely dramatically lower the cost of service for the average consumer and could have significant impact on the 3 larger incumbents in Japan. … Last week Rakuten faced a bit of a curveball and announced it had to delay the launch of its commercial service which resulted in a significant decline in the shares.” The analyst said Dish Network, in particular, appears interested in the technology.