Here Comes the First Smartphone for Baby Boomers
Gary Krakow
Dec 28, 2012 at 12:01 AM Dec 28, 2012 at 9:38 AM
It's made by Japanese company Fujitsu. And it will be for sale in the U.S. in early 2013.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- As Baby Boomers reach their golden years, there will be more products aimed squarely at that moneyed demographic.
Take, for instance, smartphones, which boast lots of features crammed into a very small space. Easy to use for youngsters, the mobile marvels can prove to be too small, too large (like those phablets with gigantic screens) or too complicated.
That's where Fujitsu steps in. According to published reports, the Japanese company will be unveiling an easy-to-use Google(:GOOG) Android phone made for "seniors." It's a market segment that Fujitsu says is being ignored by giants like Apple(:AAPL) and Samsung.
The device is called Raku Raku. I'd expect there'll be a name change before it gets to the U.S. Released in Japan in the summer, the phone is said to run on Android 4.0 and sports an easy-to-see, easy-to-master screen interface with bigger icons, larger lettering and louder audio.
The company plans to bring the Raku Raku to the U.S. and European markets in early 2013. It will have to tweak the design for each country. Fujitsu President Masami Yamamoto told reporters he has no plans to market other, more upscale models in those countries in the near future.
For the record, Fujitsu was No. 1 in Japanese mobile-phone shipments in fiscal 2011. The company also manufactures its own semiconductors/processors for its devices.
-- Written by Gary Krakow in New York
>To submit a news tip, send an email to: tips@thestreet.com.