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Vodafone Flips for Felica in 3G Fall/Winter Lineup

Vodafone Flips for Felica in 3G Fall/Winter Lineup

Vodafone follows DoCoMo and KDDI into the brave new revenue world of Osaifu Keitai [wallet phone] introducing its first Felica-equipped handset at a press conference for the Japanese carrier’s Fall/Winter 3G lineup [.PDF]. Four handsets: the 702NK II from Nokia, 703SHf and 604SH both from Sharp plus the 703N by NEC are scheduled for release in October and November. The company is counting on this lineup’s smooth design esthetics, sophisticated hardware and contents to re-ignite consumer interest in the Vodafone brand.

At just 47mm wide the 703SHf is Vodafone’s slimmest 3G handset yet. Besides Felica it has a 1.3 megapixel camera, 2-inch ASV LCD screen and the music player supports AAC and SD-Audio MP3 music files. But who cares. It’s really all about the chip. The Felica IC chip system developed by Sony allows users to swipe Felica-equipped mobile handsets over designated readers and pay for everything from a bottle of ice tea to an airline ticket. DoCoMo started loading it onto their 3G phones in July 2004 and has sold around 5 million Felica-equipped phones so far. The other carriers have seen little choice but to follow. These Sony IC chips have become ubiquitous not by Felica but through the Suica JR train commuter cards which can also be used at shops inside designated train stations and at platform kiosks. Thanks to DoCoMo, Suica is going mobile next year and there are plans to incorporate private train lines and subways into the Suica system as well. KDDI began selling their first Felica handset, the W32S from Sony Ericcson, this month.

Tokyo Game Show 2005

Tokyo Game Show 2005

Packed with international game and console makers out to show the press and public just what they can do, the Tokyo Game Show opened yesterday for a three-day run at Chiba’s Makuhari Messe Convention Center. Eager to showcase their mobile gaming platforms, DoCoMo set up a giant booth splashed in black paint over yellow for a "street style" look. Multiple mobile play stations circling the entire area had event goers lined up ten deep to try out mobile games like Monster Hunter, Sonic, Gundam, and many more. Everyone who plays a game receives different free collectible badges that fit into a DoCoMo badge folder — also free — guaranteeing big crowds here. Last year DoCoMo enjoyed great success with a similar system that handed out collectible cards for each game.

Many handsets come with games already pre-loaded. The new DoCoMo N901iS, for example, has Dragonquest II (from Enix) pre-installed and ready to play. One of the most popular games was a mobile version of Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog in playable demo form. Sonic will come bundled with one FOMA 901i-series phone starting this winter. An engaging game even on mobile, the movements and execution on the FOMA were reminiscent of the old Sega Genesis edition of Sonic. Capcom’s Monster Hunter, another popular game, will be exclusively on DoCoMo phones for a short time this winter but will soon migrate to other carriers’ game platforms according to a DoCoMo spokesman.

Japanese Cell Phone Sales Set to Surge in 2006

Japanese Cell Phone Sales Set to Surge in 2006

Market research firm Gartner Japan has good news and bad news for cell phone manufacturers and telecos. The company predicts Japanese handsets sales could reach 49 million units in 2006 as mobile number portability finally makes it debut and consumers trade up to faster, smarter handsets on their carrier of choice. That’s good news since sales for 2005 are looking rather flat especially compared to those halcyon days of 2003 when the debut of the camera phone helped drive sales to over 48 million units. Bad news is that Gartner’s research [.pdf in Japanese] indicates sales will fall again sometime in 2007 once consumers have replaced their current handsets.

Of course it doesn’t take costly research to know telecos here have a lot to worry about. With the domestic cell phone market fast reaching saturation point DoCoMo, KDDI and Vodafone will have to depend not only on handset replacement but rolling out comprehensive mobile consumer, retail, and data-related services — both in-house and through partners — to retain customers and keep income flowing in the right direction.

New 3G Phones from Vodafone Japan

New 3G Phone from Vodafone JapanJapan’s lost souls and the musically minded are targets for two new W-CDMA 3G handsets from Vodafone Japan, the 903T and 803T, both by Toshiba. Scheduled for an October release, the 903T finally puts Vodafone on the real-time mobile GPS navigation map (rivals DoCoMo and KDDI have had network GPS phones for some time). Vodafone’s “Live Navi” navigation portal goes the competition one better with the addition of GPS global roaming options in the UK, Hong Kong, Holland, Spain and Germany — with more countries to follow. Of course, international roaming and Vodafone live! communication charges will apply, which might make it cheaper just to buy a guidebook.

Here in Japan, the navi service will map out routes according to specialized needs — like fewer stairs or covered access for when those typhoons hit. Vodafone’s main partner in mapping is well-known navigation data supplier Zenrin, which handles most of the live walk-through navigation and panorama shots via a split screen to show users just what they should be seeing on their route. Other partners specialize in train and subway routing, area-based restaurant maps or shopping information, as well as an international travel info site.

Disney Branded Cell Phone: A Sign of the Times

Disney Branded Cell Phone: A Sign of the TimesIt’s not the first time that we’ve seen a major brand license a well-known icon to create a designer cell phone. Recently, Ferrari joined the bandwagon with a custom-tailored device by Sharp for Vodafone, available now in Europe and Japan. WWJ thinks many of the usual suspects (cars, sports, fashion, music) are likely to follow suit into the 2005 year-end gift-giving season as well. With music-enabled phones achieving white-hot popularity, perhaps we’ll see boutique handsets dedicated to ABBA, the Beach Boys or even Courtney Love (maybe not since Hilary Duff beat her to it), preloaded with all their ‘greatest hits’ and available just in time for Christmas.

But why stop there? Other global brands (even obscure ones) must be thinking ‘me too’ about now as well; Gucci and Playboy come to mind along with every major league sports team — and don’t forget block-buster movies (a real ‘Bat Phone’ would be very cool). So, what does any of this have to do with Japan you might ask? Plenty.

Japan Mobile Market Myths from Past and Present

Japan Mobile Market Myths from Past and PresentThe recent guest article, Mobile Music Best Practices from Japan and Korea, has resulted in some interesting comments on the web. It seems that the long- wrong-held belief about Japan’s mobile success story is still being attributed to the “There are relatively few people in Japan with a home-based Internet connection, making the mobile Internet more attractive” syndrome. However, it’s clear according to the ITU that Japan’s Internet and PC adoption rates have been much the same as, or even better than, the adoption rates in European countries such as France, Germany and the UK since at least 2001. Another comment we saw regarding the Chaku-uta Full song downloads explained in the article said “it seems to me it may be being marketed (and more importantly used) more as a next-generation ring-tone service than as a true music service”.

This is incorrect. Today in Japan, marketing to encourage customers to upgrade and listen to full-track music on their new mobile devices is everywhere; in print, outdoor and on television commercials, we are seeing massive “i-pod-meets-mobile-phone” promotions. Hence the stereo headphones and J-pop artists making regular appearances to help push the product. Sure, people can use full songs as ring-tones as well (that’s a bonus), but that is not how Chaku-uta Full is be marketed or — more importantly — being used. (And you don’t have to take our word for it. Visit KDDI’s Ad Index site and surf around to watch their current selection of TV commercials.)

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.

Japanese TV Powers Up Over Fast Networks, 3G Phones

Japanese TV Powers Up Over Fast Networks, 3G Phones

Japan’s PoweredCom announced the start of a Video on Demand (VOD) distribution service over high capacity fiber optics broadband networks. Powered Theater will soft launch August 11. Full service should begin in mid-September. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is a partner in PoweredCom and very interested in seeing more traffic on their fiber optic networks. For this project, the company tied up with cell phone content provider Index Corps’ subsidiary Neo Index and Mitsubishi as a technology/programming partner.

In a separate development Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and Culture Convenience Club, parent company of video rental giant Tsutaya, have put together a joint venture to distribute programming over Internet broadband networks, original DVDs and through mobile phones. Though few details are available the new company should start at the end of October. TBS owns a controlling interest of 51 percent and CCC 49 percent. TBS also recently partnered with ColorZip Japan for a late-summer launch of TV applications using ColorZip’s server based ColorCode code recognition system linking TV broadcasts to related digital content for sponsored websites, music samples, contests and prize drawings.

Mobile Commerce Surges in Japan over Wireless Networks

Mobile Commerce Surges in Japan over Wireless NetworksMobile commerce over cell phones jumped 25 percent last fiscal year to around 971 billion yen ($8.8 billion) according to a survey on e-business just released by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry [.pdf in Japanese]. Covering all of fiscal 2004 (which in Japan ended March ’05), the survey showed wireless purchases of books and music had grown by 85 percent from virtually nothing the previous year to 330 million yen ($3 million). Shopping for clothing and accessories over the smallest screen accelerated 79 percent, taking in 150 hundred million yen ($1.3 million).

Researchers for the report noted that consumers are comfortable with shopping on the Web, grouping it with other mainstream retail experiences. Individual online (Internet) purchases rose nearly 29 percent to 5.64 trillion yen in fiscal ’04. This confidence has users embracing the anytime, anywhere convenience of the mobile Web in addition to — and even sometimes preferably to – the PC experience.

ColorZip Partners with TV Broadcasters for Mobile Marketing

ColorZip Partners with TV Broadcasters for Mobile MarketingNow that TV viewing has jumped off the couch and onto the streets over wireless handsets, Japanese TV broadcasters are scrambling to adapt content and programming to mobile viewing. Colorzip Japan is introducing a Technicolor technology that could bring TV mobile marketing into focus for broadcasters.

Colorzip Japan recently announced it is working with strategic partners Fuji Television Network, and Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) on a late-summer launch of TV applications for its two-dimensional server based code recognition system, ColorCode, linking TV broadcasts to related digital content for sponsored websites, music samples, contests and prize drawings.

The technology could eventually provide easy access to TV programming in progress or rebroadcasts via subscriptions. For now though, the developers are looking at links to mobile program websites as well as contests and promotions. Colorzip Japan CEO Christopher Craney told WWJ, “TV companies are working on this initially as a way to promote their programming.” (Evan Owens, Director and CTO, made a presentation about this technology at Mobile Monday Tokyo’s April Event — Ed.).