Dear Gerhard
It is always interesting to hear from an orthodox i-mode believer.=20
I am very aware that many people around the world worship DoCoMo and =
i-mode, and it many ways they are right to do so. However, my company =
make a living from objectively evaluating mobile operators' strategies =
and from providing advice on how to make money on mobile services based =
on those evaluations - something we do to more than 60 operators =
worldwide.
DoCoMo can teach us a lot about the opportunities in the market for =
mobile services. Operators who generate more revenue from content-based =
services than DoCoMo, and who are seeing their ARPU going up at the same =
time as their acquisition cost goes down, can teach us even more. Those =
operators have created a situation for themselves that DoCoMo has not =
experienced for years.
DoCoMo is using its dominating market position to control the entire =
value chain. They are using its revenue sharing model to ensure the =
development of the kind of content that many operators are not able to =
develop themselves. These strategies are just, when considering DoCoMo's =
share of its market.
All this to say that DoCoMo's market postion is unique and the world =
outside Japan is very different. There is not a single country in Europe =
with the same population as Japan, and European operators will have to =
adapt their strategies according to local variations - something any =
business school will teach students in their first year!
When looking at ways to make money on mobile services, we have chosen to =
look at how 28 operators around the world - including DoCoMo - are =
working with revenue sharing, and what the consequences of different =
models are for different markets. This is what we mean by being =
objective! It is an analysis based on what technologies and competitive =
realities define the markets operators are working in. One such market =
is the Danish with five mobile operators, 5 1/2 million people and a =
penetration rate of almost 70 percent.
Many people, like yourself, are offended when we point out that DoCoMo's =
business case is not as successful as many orthodox i-mode worshippers =
claim. Fact is that many operators are doing much better than DoCoMo. =
Fact is that in those cases content providers are not restricted by a =
proprietary platform and as such, not forced to develop services to fit =
each individual operators' individual platform. I am sure many Japanese =
content providers would very much like it that was the case in Japan.
Perhaps it is time for the mobile world to grow up and take a critical =
look at those they call their heroes.
Best regards
Nicolaj Nielsen, strand consult
www.strandconsult.com
www.strandreports.com
www.reversebilling.com
----- Original Message -----=20
From: "Gerhard Fasol" <fasol@eurotechnology.com>
To: <keitai-l@appelsiini.net>
Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2001 3:52 AM
Subject: (keitai-l) Re: European i-mode will crash...
>=20
> Nicolaj H=F8jer Nielsen wrote:
> >=20
> > btw : I work as a management consultant at Strand Consult
> > I-mode id from my perspective not the right "white horse"!
> >=20
> > The problem with I-mode is that DoCoMo has developed a "walled =
garden" =3D
> > for content providers, where only a few of them is accepted to use =
the =3D
> > I-mode billing system. In other words - It's easier for Bin Laden to =
get =3D
> > into Heaven, that it is for content providers to get their i-mode =
sites =3D
> > approved as an "official i-mode site" :-)
> >=20
> > I-mode should be compared to Premium SMS/WAP serviced developed by =
more =3D
> > and more European mobile operators, where ALL potential content =3D
> > providers can develop and (very importantly) market their services, =
and =3D
> > get a revenue share on it!=3D20
> >=20
> > So instead that trying to copy i-mode in Europe, the European mobile =
=3D
> > operators must instead improve their existing revenue models for =
premium =3D
> > SMS-services, and implement new revenue sharing models for premium =
=3D
> > WAP-services.
> >=20
> > And i-mode is not only a "failure" from the content providers point =
of =3D
> > view, but also from the operators. Several European mobiel operators =
are =3D
> > already getting a larger percentage of their APRU from non-voice =3D
> > services (WAP/SMS) than DoCoMo is getting from I-mode....Norway, =3D
> > Germany, Finland - is just some examples !!!=3D20
> >=20
> > btw. you can read more about the report at =
http://www.reversebilling.com
> > =3D20
> > Kind regards,
> >=20
> > Nicolaj Nielsen
> > www.strandconsult.com
> > www.strandreports.com
>=20
> This is an astonishing email: it's the first and only time sofar I=20
> have heard anybody call imode a "failure". Considering that imode is =
at
> the heart of a new multi-billion dollar industry with more than=20
> 1000 companies participating as well as providing many new jobs,=20
> it's astonishing to call this new industry a failure, and I am not
> sure you'll find many people agreeing with your judgment.
>=20
> 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...
>=20
> 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=20
> does not need an official site on DoCoMo's menu, and they don't need=20
> to make a stand-alone profit from their imode site.
>=20
> 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.
>=20
> 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=3Dcb0445&ConfCode=3D=
cb0445
>=20
> Gerhard Fasol
> http://www.eurotechnology.com/
>=20
> This mail was sent to address nhn@strandconsult.dk
> Need archives? How to unsubscribe? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ =
>=20
Received on Thu Dec 27 19:39:25 2001