Andrew,
Thanks for your opinion.
I do not know enough about the technical issues surrounding GSM vs Japanese
homegrown digital standard to comment. However I suspect a similar situation
existed when the imode platform was developed. Docomo`s impatience with the
WAP standards committee and consequent going it alone to develop the imode
platform was partially due to the need to develop a more usable system but
also motivated by the fact that if they could set their own standards they
would also reap great benefits.
From a user perspective and a previous GSM user I found the service in
Japan terrible in terms of voice quality and coverage so I actually wondered
whether the Japanese standard was inferior? But of course I loved the
handsets!
I beg to differ on comment about lack of interest in other markets, the
trade surplus that Japan has with the rest of the world should speak for
itself. (While I agree that it is so large because foreign companies find
it difficult to get in) Given the size of the domestic market any small
company can make good living by never looking outside the shores of Japan,
but electronics manufacturers, steel, automobiles etc could hardly be
accused of caring only about the domestic market. Speaking as someone who
has lived and worked for 5 years in SE Asia, I found the Japanese very
dominant and aggressive in that region. I don't think that it can be
claimed that Fujitsu, Panasonic, NEC are not global players with an acute
interest in the outside world. Given the economic downturn in Japan they'd
be crazy no to!
Regards
Jamie
Jamie wrote:
However in opting not to go the GSM route the Japanese lost out on the
chance to dominate other markets.
Jamie, in my experience if you look at the way Japanese products and
services are generally developed - they initially only really want to try
and dominate their own domestic market. For many products there is no desire
to move outside of the domestic market. Market domination at home is just
fine for all except the largest domestic success stories.
Obviously, to not go with a GSM infrastructure was a decision based more on
usability and service to Japanese domestic customers than trying to dominate
the world.
This is probably also why it has worked so well!
Andrew
-----Original Message-----
From: keitai-l-bounce@appelsiini.net
[mailto:keitai-l-bounce@appelsiini.net]On Behalf Of Cattell, Jamie - RI
Japan
Sent: 31 January 2001 16:11
To: 'keitai-l@appelsiini.net'
Subject: (keitai-l) Re: Frustration makes way for...
Victor
That was an interesting comment about Nokia.
I think that the Nokia`s, Erricsons and Motorolas of the world should be
concerned about 3G and Asian (Japanese?) handsets coming in an conquering
the market in the rest of the world.
Its probably no co-incidence that Finland and Sweden were amongst the first
to deregulate telecoms and thus provided a great boost to the fortunes of
Nokia and Erricson. The Japanese probably viewed their proprietary digital
telephone system as a way of keeping out foreign handset manufacturers. (In
the analogue days Motorola etc had much larger market shares in Japan)
However in opting not to go the GSM route the Japanese lost out on the
chance to dominate other markets. It certainly will be interesting to watch
the battle played out again with at last Japan adopting a global standard.
Would be interesting to hear a comment from Nokia (I see your in the list)
or Erricson?
Regards
Jamie Cattell
RI Japan
-----Original Message-----
From: Victor Pikula [mailto:victor@pikula.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 1:24 AM
To: keitai-l@appelsiini.net
Subject: (keitai-l) Re: Frustration makes way for...
Hello all,
John wrote:
> There is MASSIVE latent demand here in the US.
But where is the related growth in supply? As far as my knowledge of
economic
growth goes, it seems to me that the extreme growth period for the US is
over.
This would imply that raising funds for new and exciting business areas is
more difficult. Lay-offs are already a daily part of cnnfn.com's headlines.
http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2001/01/29/companies/layoffs/
And if I see the telco section on ft.com, I get the following news items:
http://news.ft.com/news/industries/telecommunications
* Nokia meets estimates but warns of flat first quarter
* Viag Interkom narrows losses
* AT&T cuts earnings outlook
* BT may abandon Yell float
* DoCoMo links to PlayStation
Notice that the only good news in the mobile industry today, is DoCoMo news.
What is apparent to me, judging from an economic perspective, is that growth
is now shifting towards the Pacific region, away from America and also away
from Europe.
On one hand, it is very possible that a company like Nokia will become the
Thomson of the mobile device market. Their share could be easily swallowed
by
Asian players once we all convert to the same 3G system.
But on the other hand; how about the operators, such as DoCoMo? How about
content providers? Will they increase their marker share? Some people argue
that these sectors are difficult to export outside of the Japanese
marketplace, at least more difficult than "tangible" electronic devices.
My thinking is that the next Microsoft could just as easily be born in
Japan.
Hope to hear from y'all,
Victor
[ Did you check the archives? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ ]
[ Did you check the archives? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ ]
[ Did you check the archives? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ ]
[ Did you check the archives? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ ]
Received on Wed Jan 31 08:58:26 2001