Two of the companies which have emerged from Asia to move the goalposts in the mobile industry, Softbank of Japan and Xiaomi of China, are both considering IPOs (initial public offerings). Softbank could be set for an $18bn IPO value if it goes ahead with reported plans to spin off its domestic telecoms units as a separate entity, thereby offering about 30% of its shares to the market. In a statement to the Tokyo stock exchange, Softbank said: “We are always studying various capital strategy options. The listing of Softbank Corp. shares is one such option, but no decision has been made to officially proceed with this course”. However, some analysts expect the IPO to be launched as early as…