Japan Market
Japan Market

Japan Market

DoCoMo 3G Adds 1.2 Million in July

The latest subscriber numbers are in and DoCoMo added an impressive 1,196,400 new 3G accounts in the month of July compared to rival KDDI/au, which only gained 312,000 new customers for their CDMA 1X service in the same period. Overall, however, KDDI managed to sign up a total of 230,500 new customers (2G + 3G) to beat DoCoMo’s 229,800 net additions. Meanwhile, Vodafone gained 18,000 more customers than it lost in July, with the stats showing they added 130,100 new 3G customers.

Apple Opens iTunes Japan

Apple Computer Inc. launched its music-downloading service, iTunes Music Store, in Japan on Thursday with 1 million songs, most of which will be available for about 150 yen a pop, the maker of the hit iPod portable player said. Japanese music on Sony labels are not available on iTunes, said Sony Music Entertainment spokeswoman Kiyono Yoshinaga. “We are in talks with Apple, but we have not reached an agreement at this time,” she said, declining to give details.

Mobile Music Best Practices from Japan and Korea

While Japan’s music market is second only to the US, with $3.5 bn in CD sales, it ranks first in mobile music in terms of market size, service penetration and sophistication. Japanese record labels have managed a powerful comeback from their failure in the wild, MIDI ring tone-based 2G music market to massive success in the master-rights-based "Chaku-uta" 3G universe. They already own a 20-percent share of Japan’s $1-billion-plus mobile music market. How did they pull off this stunning achievement? The labels identified their core assets in the mobile universe: trust and convenience.

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest Viewpoint is based on "Mobile Music Best Practices from Japan and Korea," a 103-page report recently released by Vectis International. WWJ subscribers login to read the article and receive a special 10% discount coupon!!

Researched and written over a period of several months by Simon Bureau, Managing Director and Editor, and Benjamin Joffe, Japan Market Analyst — two of the saviest mobile industry watchers in Asia — Vectis’ "Mobile Music Best Practices" provides 103 pages of sharp and critical analysis covering mobile music downloading as it has developed in the world’s top two wireless markets. With reference to carriers, content providers, networks, terminals, pricing, marketing and end-user behavior, "Mobile Music" is a must-read for anyone involved in planning and commercializing on-the-go music services anywhere.

Japan Allocates 2-GHz Spectrum for TD-CDMA

Last week, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced that Japan’s 2010 – 2025 MHz spectrum would be allocated solely to IMT-2000 TDD technologies. This paves the way for broadband wireless networks using UMTS TDD, also known as TD-CDMA in Japan; the first commercially deployed IMT-2000 technology for unpaired spectrum. Optimized for high-speed data, UMTS TDD is already used by operators and manufacturers worldwide and has emerged as a leading standard for Broadband Wireless Access.

JR East, NTT DoCoMo, and NTT DATA to Jointly Promote Suica e-Money Service

East Japan Railway Company (JR East), NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (DoCoMo) and NTT DATA Corporation (NTT DATA) announced today that they have agreed to jointly promote JR East’s Suica® e-money service. Through this joint venture, JR East aims to expand the number of retail shops and companies accepting Suica e-money, which will make it more convenient and attract more users. For DoCoMo, the expansion of the Suica e-money service will encourage use of its “Osaifu-Keitai” mobile phones equipped with contactless IC cards.

Foreign Phones Don't Sell in Japan

When Vodafone Group released a line of 3G mobile phones simultaneously in several major cities around the world, Japan was less than enthralled. The marketing blitz in Japan was also the first test of selling foreign-made handsets like Motorola and Nokia in a country where homemade phones have nearly monopolized the market. By many reports, the foreign handset makers fell flat in Japan, the most advanced cellphone market in the world.

Vodafone Weighs Change in Japan

Wireless giant Vodafone added 4.1 million new users – that’s the population of New Zealand – in its strongest quarter for the past five years. Now it will focus its efforts on improving its Japanese business, according to Chief Executive Arun Sarin. Average revenue per customer have slipped in that country, as well as in the U.K. and Germany. Sarin’s not averse to the idea of selling underperforming operations in Japan, where Vodafone languishes behind NTT DoCoMo and KDDI: “We’re not married to any asset. If an asset loses its usefulness to us.. we’d be willing to look at (a disposal),” he was quoted as saying by AFX News.

Vodafone Key Performance Indicators

The Vodafone Group today announced its key performance indicators (KPI’s) for the 1 April to 30 June 2005 period. KPI’s relevant to Vodafone K.K., along with a summary of customer numbers*1, are as follows. The closing total customer base was 14,966,600. Vodafone K.K. had a net reduction of 74,100 for the quarter, but recorded positive net additions of 5,300 in June. 3G subscriptions increased by 382,200 to 1,299,400 in the quarter, increasing the 3G customer percentage from 6.1% to 8.7%. The percentage of prepaid customers was 11% at the end of June 2005, unchanged from at the end of March 2005.

iTunes Japan preps August launch

Apple will launch its iTunes Music Store in Japan this August, according to AFX News. A brief report states that major Japanese label Avex has agreed to license songs to Apple’s soon-to-launch iTunes Japan Music Store. Avex is the first major Japanese label to agree terms with Apple for servicing songs through the service, the report observes.

Livedoor to Apply for Mobile Licence

Internet firm Livedoor Co. said today it plans to apply for a new mobile licence that the Japanese government is expected to issue later this year, with the aim of starting a data service. Livedoor will apply for the licence on the 2 gigahertz band, a company spokesman said. It will be competing against mobile broadband startup IP Mobile Inc. and Willcom Inc., a wireless service operator owned by Kyocera Corp. and U.S. fund Carlyle Group.