The launch of high-speed service between Beijing and Shanghai earlier this month was plagued by electrical outages and other malfunctions that caused delays and left passengers stranded, problems that hit other parts of the network in recent weeks.

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Dell shut down its effort to sell flat-screen televisions last year, unable to compete against offerings from Sony and Sharp in the U.S. Worse yet, while Apple is just now likely to launch its first handset that will take advantage of high-speed, third-generation networks, Japanese companies have been building handsets tailored to such networks for years.

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Once commercialized, 5G mobile communications technology will be capable of ultra-high-speed data transmission up to several hundred times faster than even the 4G LTE-Advanced technology due for launch later this year.

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