On Monday, June 17, 2002, at 04:33 , Daniel Helmer wrote:
>> ...the Japanese market is in economic terms less mature than the
>> European
>> market. In Japan, Voda is still fighting for market share (hence
>> subsidies)
>> in Europe they are fighting for profitability as >they have already won
>> their market share by and large.
>
> Well, what do we really mean with mature markets? If we're talking high
> penetration of mobile phones, yes, Europe is more mature, still room for
> growth in Japan, hence subsidies make more sense there.
Absolutely.
> But when we're talking mobile data, Japan is mature, Europe is not. So I
> would like to argue it makes sense for European operators to keep
> subsidising new technology (WAP over GPRS etc), not for the sake of
> market
> share primarily, but to provide incentive for users to switch to the
> latest
> data-enabled phones - and start using data. Vodafone wants 25% of
> revenue to
> come from data in 2004 - they got a loooong way to go...
If they do that, they will get their butts kicked by the financial
markets.
What if what Voda *wants* is whishful thinking ? The markets don't seem
to agree with that vision. It may be wise to acknowledge that the gold
rush is over (at least for now) and that you have to earn your money the
hard way like other mature industries. That is to say, new technology
has to eventually sell on its own merits.
You can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink !
regards
benjamin
Received on Mon Jun 17 11:43:19 2002