Hot in Japan: Mobile Phone Manga
For Japanese enthusiasts of Manga (Japanese comic books) there is an easy, convenient way to recieve the latest stories without making a trip over to the bookstore; just simply download them to your cell phone. The average buyer spends around $15/ month on many episodes, which are about 10 pages and costs consumers anywhere from .25 for black and white to 1$ for episodes in color. These comics can also be found in weekly magazine which include about 10 episodes per issue for a mere $3. Over the past year, Japanese consumers spent roughly $20 million to view manga on their handset. With such availability and popularity of manga on mobile handsets, some publishers bypass print channels and go for the mobile community. Maybe mobile-phone manga will travel over to the US. Crucial first steps have been taken with talks to wireless carriers and online distributors to get Japanese content onto overseas cellphones. Maybe soon you will be able to join in and watch on your mobile handset.
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