i have been torturing myself with trying to figure out how this deal
benefits NTTDoCoMo:
any thoughts or responses to below?
I would think that the deal hurts DoCoMo in Japan because they are supposed
to promote an ISP that is not considered very appealing by Japanese- (only
440,000 subscribers after how many years?)
and if AOL Japan is proven to have unappealing content, why would they want
to build a wireless portal with them to sell to other wireless carriers?
(why would they offer the aol-docomo portal on their own front screen when
they have a proven model of open partnerships with over 500 content
providers)- will aol be considered yet another?
leading to theory 1
theory 1: DoCoMo is looking ahead to finding content for its 3rd gen, w-cdma
network and really couldn't care less about AOL Japan and its content and is
really gunning for TimeWarner's broadband content which they think they'll
have ready access to. (will they? -is it wrong for them to think this?)
theory 2: DoCoMo wants to be considered a world player and must prove that
they can make i-mode like services successful in other places, that i-mode's
success is not only due to unique Japanese market features.
They need carrier partnerships in other areas of the world- which they do
have- KPN, Hutchison, and telesudeste, in brazi. -but again, they would need
to find local content players to build up an offering- again, they wouldn't
look to AOL for content..
Received on Fri Sep 29 14:17:48 2000