Japan Market
Japan Market

Japan Market

InnoPath Appoints New President for Japan

InnoPath Software, Inc. today announced telecommunications industry veteran Shinichi Sawai as the president of InnoPath’s Japan operations. Sawai brings more than 20 years of expertise and knowledge in the Japanese telecommunications industry and will be responsible for continuing InnoPath’s positive growth of influence within the Japanese mobile device management (MDM) market. Sawai recently oversaw the successful promotion of global business for NTT Data Corporation, a system integrator group comprised of 100 subsidiaries and affiliates. Prior to NTT Data Corporation, he played a major role in developing 3G radio systems for Lucent Technologies, Japan.

Japan Ministry to Study Handset Subsidies

Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is considering a plan to allow mobile telephone subscribers to choose lower communications charges in return for paying more for handsets, ministry officials said Friday. At present, mobile phone carriers such as NTT DoCoMo Inc. sell handsets at steep discounts and cover the costs by adding charges to monthly communications rates, creating an unfair cost disadvantage for subscribers who use the same handsets for a long time. The study group is expected to work out a report on the pricing options in July.

Kyocera Net Profit Jumps 52%

Japan’s largest electronics component maker Kyocera Corp said its net profit in the year to March 2006 (FY05) surged 52 pct and it expects a further improvement this year thanks to a turnaround in demand for digital consumer products. Kyocera also pointed to a major improvement in profitability at its US cellular phone handset-making unit, Kyocera Wireless.

KDDI's Mobile Revenues Up

Japan’s No. 2 telecoms operator KDDI has said operating profit stagnated in the year to March as a strong performance by the mobile arm offset weak fixed-line operations. Net profit fell five percent to 190.6 billion yen as the company took a charge to write down the impaired value of its old cellular phone facilities. Revenue from its mobile business rose 8.6 percent to 2.51 trillion yen from a year earlier helped by the rising popularity of music downloading service, the expansion of subscribers and a revision in pricing plans.

Desirable Mobile Services for the Future

Info-Plant has issued a very interesting report on mobile-phone usage in Japan focusing on ‘Desirable Mobile Functions and Services’. Data was collected via a nationwide survey of mobile phone users from the networks of NTT DoCoMo, KDDI/au, and Vodafone and valid responses were received from 7,905 users. Questions asked what mobile phone functions or services were used regularly and respondents were asked to list the services or functions they would like to see added to mobile phones in the future (log in for details).

3G Lessons Learnt – Buyer Beware

BusinessWire has a press release from the folks at Analysys stating that 3G in Japan has hit 40 percent penetration. While we agree that “Mobile operators in Japan and South Korea have consistently led the world in the development of innovative mobile services and technology” and “They have unrivalled track records of introducing new handset capabilities and services, and they are currently the only markets to achieve mainstream adoption of services delivered by 3G networks,” that “40” number is way too low. According to a TCA offical report, the 50 percent mark was actually reached here back in February.

Continuation of Customer First Approach

SOFTBANK CORP. and Vodafone K.K. today announce they have made decisions regarding current services based on customer feedback, following the announcement that Vodafone K.K. will enter the SoftBank Group, after completion of the ongoing tender offer bid launched by the SoftBank Group. Customer centers and Vodafone shops received a high number of customer inquiries after this announcement.

Tokyo Taxis to Accept e-money

Tokyo taxi passengers will soon be able to start paying for their rides using electronic money, three taxi fleet operators said this week. The deals, which involve BitWallet Inc.’s Edy system and East Japan Railway Co.’s (JR East) Suica system, are the latest in a string of agreements from major retailers to accept e-money in lieu of conventional cash for purchases and services. They come as technology for the systems, which are both based on Sony Corp.’s Felica touch-and-go proximity smart card platform.

Handset Shipments Rise 16%

Total domestic shipments of mobile phone handsets in February surged 16.0 pct from a year earlier to 5.02 mln units, data from the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) showed. Shipments of PHS handsets surged 172.2 pct to 157,000 units, rising for the 13th straight month, according to the report.

TI, NEC and Panasonic Consider JV

According to the Nikkei, top mobile phone chip supplier Texas Instruments Inc., NEC Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. are in talks over possible cooperation in cellphones, Matsushita and NEC said on Friday. NEC’s chip unit, NEC Electronics Corp., and the cellphone unit of Matsushita, Panasonic Mobile Communications Co., are involved in the talks, they said, adding that nothing concrete has been decided.