We think that the market heavyweight, NTT DoCoMo, gets a better payback by spreading Java far and wide (at a low marginal cost), while eschewing pricey gadgets and add-ons (or making the consumer pay for same when desired; we note that DoCoMo’s SH251i is selling for 5,000 yen more than J-Phone’s high-end Sharp Sha-mail handset).
Neale contacted DoCoMo IR, who helped clarify where the 9 percent lives in DoCoMo accounts. In the English version of the Consolidated Financial Statements (8 May 2002), under “(2) Consolidated Statements of Income” (page 16), there’s a section titled, “Operating income from other businesses.” This includes the 9 percent (Aha!!), and amounted to 45,272 million yen in FY2002.
The phone is still not an “IT sale” in Japan, but we talk to one mobile application developer that is trying to effect change — and is having some success.
Hear why KDDI 3G is a better bet than DoCoMo’s FOMA for enterprise apps.
It’s March, and on Japan’s wireless webs, it’s video season. We show you exclusive clips of KDDI/Au’s new EZmovie system and take a look at the latest videoconferencing and video-download services on J-Phone and NTT DoCoMo. Wireless entrepreneur and ex-Packet Video man-in-the-know David Collier joins us for Q&A on mobile video in Japan.
Japan is the land of keitai eye candy, and this week we take a sneak peek at the latest FOMA, J-Phone, and KDDI pocket rockets. We send @Sha-mail picture mail, watch EZmovie, and videoconference at 3G speed. We also asked local expert Giles Richter about what drives handset feature innovation.
