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DoCoMo, J-Phone, KDDI: Keitai Catalogs Tell All

I picked up the November cell phone catalogs from several carriers the other day, including DoCoMo (for 3G FOMA), KDDI, and Tu-ka, as well as the J-Sky service catalog from J-Phone. You really needn’t look much further than these monthly catalogs if you want a concise, full-color, and neatly packaged window into the marketing plans and keitai sales hopes of the major Japanese carriers. Depending on which handset you have, you can now access data networks at 9.6, 28.8, 64, or 384 Kbps – and many devices can access two networks. Note that 64 Kbps data is available via FOMA (the 3G network) and via PHS (not formally called “2G” but certainly not 3G). Finally, there’s the Mzone WLAN service that operates at hotspots inside the Yamanote line and at a few other locations.

Love, War, Wireless Internet, and Nokia VP on Mobile Software

DoCoMo’s recent troubles highlight a fundamental aspect of Japan’s wireless Internet revolution that I haven’t seen discussed much – namely, the sheer improbability of it all. In 1999 and 2000, during the ascendancy of i-mode, headlines and media quotes from interested parties were quick to praise the insight and innovation of those involved in i-mode’s creation, including the famous Enoki-Matsunaga-Natsuno troika as well as sundry network engineers, Internet-savvy marketers, and handset designers both inside DoCoMo and out.

CEATEC: Cell Phones Like No Others on Earth

CEATEC: Cell Phones Like No Others on EarthOne of the best aspects of working at WWJ in Japan – the country most responsible for creating the post-war consumer electronics revolution – has to be covering the trade shows. October’s CEATEC is one of Asia’s coolest (and largest) electronics showcase events, and Japan’s cell-phone makers rolled out their very best gear. We speak with Sharp about camera keitai (What’s the cost to add a camera-thingy to a phone?), Hitachi about cell phones morphing into computers (cellys now have 133-MHz CPUs – same as PCs used to), and take a look at J-Phone’s first 3G handset from Sanyo. One of our best programs to date!

Tectonic Change in Japan's Mobile Handset Market

The past few days have seen Japan’s big electronic makers releasing their quarterly and semiannual results, and the news from Sony, NEC, Fujitsu, and others has been mostly bad where cell phones are concerned. There have also been a lot of media reports on Japan’s ailing phone tanmatsu (terminal) market, and it appears that majors changes are underway. First, the media reports. On October 10 JEITA announced that domestic shipments of cellular phones fell 18.3 percent in August 2002 from a year earlier to 3.26 million units. The drop resumed a 13-month-long decline that was only broken (briefly) in July 2002 due to sales of camera-equipped models. Moreover, shipments of PHS handsets fell by 64 percent to 73,000 units (extending their losing streak to 18months!).

CTIA Notes and NEC 3G Recalls

WWJ contributor Michael Thuresson was in Las Vegas, Nevada, last week and managed to pull himself away from the one-armed bandits long enough to drop in on the CTIA “Wireless IT and Internet 2002” fall show. His report below was culled from a late-night, bleary-eyed email dispatch (italicized annotations partly contributed by me). Who says war correspondents in Kandahar have more fun than tech stringers in Vegas? 😉

Fall Roundup of Hot Topics: Packet Fees, WLAN, and 3G Roaming

A couple of interesting events took place in Tokyo last Friday. The American Chamber of Commerce hosted their Fourth Annual E-Business Summit, while Credit Suisse First Boston’s lead telecoms analyst Mark Berman conducted a 3G/Wireless Internet Conference. Some interesting points came out of both. Afterwards, Kobe University’s Jeff Funk commented that the predicted fall in 3G packet prices is “interesting,” while Matsumoto’s additional arguments — that the US is a car society and thus Japan’s experience isn’t relevant — was not valid since “SMS is doing well in Europe and DoCoMo claim that i-mode revenues per person are independent of the region in Japan.”

Deconstructing 3G Culture

NTT DoCoMo took it square on the chin this week, announcing it would book extraordinary losses of 573 billion yen against its investments in three major foreign partners, KPN, AT&T Wireless, and Hutchison 3G. The company cited the slowdown in the global telecommunications market, and it would be natural to suspect the Sanno Park Tower strategists are back in their corner, applying ice and stitching wounds. Industry watchers, meanwhile, are having a field day. hOWEVER, this week’s write-down represents mere pachinko pocket change for DoCoMo, and, as potentially one of Japan’s (and by extension, the world’s) most profitable companies, the carrier is well on its way to creating something that the Europeans are still trying to sort out: a functioning W-CDMA network.

Hello Kitty's Revenge

Early this year, there was some comment in the open press concluding that the US was the world’s leading source of wireless innovation and technology expertise (“Europe Had Decisive Wireless Lead, But Lost It to US With Poor Moves”). Well, the good news is that finding some of those smaller, innovative creators of made-right-here-in-Japan, ready-to-be-exported mobile technology is getting an awful lot easier. We spent yesterday at Sun’s JavaOne conference in Yokohama, and there was an interesting line-up of companies displaying their wares on the showroom floor.

Japan Carriers' Consumer Focus the Only Focus

I was sitting in the DoCoMo shop in Machida last week waiting to cancel my second PHS data card (which we rarely use since we got a home WLAN), when it suddenly occurred to me: there’s no enterprise wireless data market in Japan because the carriers — yes, the **carriers** — don’t want one. NTT DoCoMo announced that consolidated revenues from “packet communications services” (read: i-mode) reached 715,600 million yen, up **102 percent** from the year before. Clearly, revenues from wireless data are booming, and if the corporate market has not yet been tapped, just think of the riches that will flow to the likes of DoCoMo, J-Phone, and KDDI when it is.

Japan Mobile Trivia that'll Separate the Pros from the Wanna-bes

All of Japan’s carriers devote an extraordinary amount of time, effort, and resources to creating marketing and sale materials designed to entice customers, boost sales, and — let’s be frank — brag about their networks and handsets. The Big Five (NTT DoCoMo, KDDI/Au, J-Phone, DDI Pocket, and Tu-Ka) produce monthly full-color catalogs touting the latest in handsets, networks and data services, calling plans and discounts, and customer support services. DoCoMo also conveniently produces a quarterly compendium of their monthly issues in English, while KDDI makes their calling plans and discount options widely available in English, Korean, Chinese, and several other languages. We combed through several carrier brochures and extracted some gems of info that are rarely if ever mentioned by English-language press, but that help to illustrate the depth and scope of the wireless business here. Without further ado, herewith we present WWJ’s first quarterly Review of Japan Keitai Trivia. Rabid Japan wireless devotees (and you know who you are) won’t want to miss this.