The huge popularity and stunning revenues generated by Japan’s mobile Internet ecosystem have been widely reported by media everywhere since the start of the mobile Internet in this country in 1999. However, few of the specialist pundits and almost none of the general press have clearly explained why this unique-in-the-world success occurred in Japan first.
Further, as 3G (third-generation) mobile systems elsewhere in the world continue to flounder in tepid popularity and no real profits, it is becoming increasingly vital to identify and, insofar as possible, copy the regulatory, technology and business decisions that were taken in Japan in the hopes of rescuing the massive amounts of money that carriers in Europe and North America paid for their 3G licenses.
Some would argue that Japanese spend an inordinate amount of time on commuter trains, that they have a natural gadgety orientation or that Japanese thumbs are somehow different and that these account for why 3G here is so much better than 3G there. These arguments are simplistic and ill-informed; Japanese spend no more time commuting as a percentage of their overall work day than workers in many western nations; teens and youth in Germany or Canada love their MP3 players, iPods and game consoles just as much as Japanese love their phones; and a thumb is a thumb, regardless.
It may be uncomfortable for those outside Japan to accept, but the reasons for Japan’s continuing mobile Internet success lie much more in the areas of regulatory policy and business culture than in the realm of end-user culture. In the same way that Japan’s auto industry in the 1970s produced products far superior to those elsewhere, so too have the Japanese mobile carriers created a far superior product. And the government has helped. Continued >>>
— Daniel Scuka
++ Carriers Overview
- Historic overview/background
- Carrier strategy
- Mobile ecosystems
- ARPU
- Financials
- Subscriber Trends
- PHS (Personal Handyphone System)
- Future carriers (eMobile, IP Mobile)++ Handset Catalogue
- Makers Overview
- Models by Carrier
- Features by Model
- Design Niches
- Browsers – Flash – Symbian
- Most popular by sales++ Content and Services
- General overview
- Voice communications
- Messaging
- Portal Offerings
- Music
- Games
- Digital TV and radio
- GPS and location-based services
- Imaging/cameraphones
- Commerce (shopping and auctions)
- Payment (iD, DCMX, Mobile Suica, edy etc.)
- Other FeliCa/IC chip applications
- Search
- Blogging
- Social networks and communities
- Advertising, Publishing
- Full browsers/PC sites
- QR codes++ Future Outlook
- Fixed-mobile convergence
- u-Lab Japan national IT strategy
- future technologies and services
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