If Softbank Corp. manages to acquire Sprint Nextel Corp., the deal would dramatically increase the mobile carrier's influence in both the domestic and overseas markets and severely rattle its major rivals, experts said Friday.
Softbank's move could also potentially assist domestic handset makers looking to expand abroad by creating new distribution channels through Sprint, the third-largest U.S. carrier, they said.
"Japanese makers have traditionally supplied DoCoMo with their best phones" but they may well switch to Softbank if it buys a majority stake in Sprint, said Tsutsumu Ishikawa, a journalist who follows the cellphone industry.