Sony’s design flaws, and ultimate failure, also came from a misunderstanding of its target audience, as well as poor design. But size wasn’t the problem, rather it was usability by the American consumer. (An interesting and almost-compelling analysis of differences between US and Japanese consumers that goes beyond the odious “American thumbs are too big” argument; well worth a read as this issue directly applies to 3G cell phones. — Ed.)
Originally published as a guest column in Fierce Wireless, 9 June – Ed.
If 2001-2003 has been Phase 1 of Japan’s 3G era (all three major carriers launched W-CDMA or CDMA 2000 networks in this period), then 2004 is definitely shaping up to be Phase 2 — and the difference is that now Japan 3G is moving overseas. The assault is being led in part by Japan’s keitai makers who, under NTT DoCoMo’s lash, have invested heavily in sophisticated new terminals and are now looking to markets further afield in order to generate additional ROI.
Telstra expects more than one million Australians will pay $500 for new handsets, plus an extra $10-$17 per month for content, when the telco launches its own version of the i-mode mobile phone content service before Christmas. The Australian carrier became the first telco in the English-speaking world to sign up with the Japanese telco, NTT DoCoMo, which claims 41 million subscribers for the service in its own country.
Don’t say we haven’t mentioned this one before, but the good ol Brit boys (and girls) at The Reg have spotted that NEC is targeting China for 3G phones. Here it is from the horse’s mouth: NEC is setting up a new company in China with the primary goal of developing the Chinese 3G mobile market. The company, facing declining sales in Japan, believes China will be a vital new growth area particularly in 3G.
Boy-oh-Boy! We are absolutely delighted to have real-time credit-card processing on the WWJ site, courtesy of eSellerate! We have just switched the new subscription processing system ON, and will do a full announcement in this week’s newsletter; there are also new pricing, term, and multi-user-discount options. If you have any problems whatsoever with subscribing, please drop us a note (send mail to support [at] wirelesswatch.jp) and we’ll get back to you immediately. More announcements shortly…
TU Media, a Korean consortium for satellite-based mobile broadcasting service, said on Monday it is in a dispute with Toshiba Corp. over royalties on the Japanese firm’s technology. Toshiba, which has the biggest stake in Japan’s satellite-based mobile TV service consortium, has sent an official document to the Telecommunications Technology Association, a Korean business lobby, requesting the Korean consortium pay it “a royalty of 2 percent per terminal sold, regardless of its type”, says TU Media.
