Lean and focused would be a good way to characterize the recently launched lineups from Japan’s three top cellphone carriers.

While NTT DoCoMo Inc. had released 18 kinds of smartphones last summer, it trimmed down to 9 for this summer.

In a rare move for Japan’s biggest carrier, DoCoMo chose Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and Xperia A as its flagship models. To ensure sales and competitive edge over the popular iPhones, sold both by Softbank and KDDI, the company also announced discounts targeted at current DoCoMo users who have yet to upgrade to smartphones.