Nicolaj Højer Nielsen wrote:
>
> btw : I work as a management consultant at Strand Consult
> I-mode id from my perspective not the right "white horse"!
>
> The problem with I-mode is that DoCoMo has developed a "walled garden" =
> for content providers, where only a few of them is accepted to use the =
> I-mode billing system. In other words - It's easier for Bin Laden to get =
> into Heaven, that it is for content providers to get their i-mode sites =
> approved as an "official i-mode site" :-)
>
> I-mode should be compared to Premium SMS/WAP serviced developed by more =
> and more European mobile operators, where ALL potential content =
> providers can develop and (very importantly) market their services, and =
> get a revenue share on it!=20
>
> So instead that trying to copy i-mode in Europe, the European mobile =
> operators must instead improve their existing revenue models for premium =
> SMS-services, and implement new revenue sharing models for premium =
> WAP-services.
>
> And i-mode is not only a "failure" from the content providers point of =
> view, but also from the operators. Several European mobiel operators are =
> already getting a larger percentage of their APRU from non-voice =
> services (WAP/SMS) than DoCoMo is getting from I-mode....Norway, =
> Germany, Finland - is just some examples !!!=20
>
> btw. you can read more about the report at http://www.reversebilling.com
> =20
> Kind regards,
>
> Nicolaj Nielsen
> www.strandconsult.com
> www.strandreports.com
This is an astonishing email: it's the first and only time sofar I
have heard anybody call imode a "failure". Considering that imode is at
the heart of a new multi-billion dollar industry with more than
1000 companies participating as well as providing many new jobs,
it's astonishing to call this new industry a failure, and I am not
sure you'll find many people agreeing with your judgment.
Some of this shows a misunderstanding of what I-mode is. In our work
we sometimes encounter such misunderstanding of imode by people who have
never used imode themselves and have never worked in the imode
industry. Our company has been working in the imode industry for almost
2 years now...
One such point of misunderstanding is the assumption that the imode
industry consists of content-providers only. That is just plain wrong.
For example, some major content providers in Japan are video chain stores,
or the railway companies. A railway company with millions customer
does not need an official site on DoCoMo's menu, and they don't need
to make a stand-alone profit from their imode site.
Another example against your walled garden story are corporate intranets.
A corporate intranet normally does not have any interest at all to
be on DoCoMo's imode menu, but may create large advantages for a
company.
Maybe you are interested to attend a presentation I'll give at a WAP/imode
industry conference on January 21, 2002 in London, which is aimed to
clear up
some of the misunderstandings in the previous email. Details about the
imode/WAP conference are here:
http://www.iir-conferences.com/site/_day1.cfm?DirName=cb0445&ConfCode=cb0445
Gerhard Fasol
http://www.eurotechnology.com/
Received on Sat Dec 22 04:58:38 2001