(keitai-l) Re: Content provider profits

Dear all,

I agree with most of the previous points. However, as competition for i-mode
content business is getting tougher, for those companies who do rely on
making a profit primarily by selling their i-mode content, there are some
basic rules that seem to make all the difference for profitability or loss.
Most often mentioned are cost control, and cost control and then again cost
control. Plus a smart design of scalable infrastructure, and an intimate
knowledge of mobile content design, production, distribution and marketing.
Already established connections in the industry (Cybird-Docomo for example)
of course also help ;-)

Andrea
--
EGIS Consulting Group
http://www.egisgroup.net
E-Mail: egis@egis.co.jp
Ph/Fx:  +81-3-3865-5199


----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerhard Fasol" <fasol@eurotechnology.com>
To: <keitai-l@appelsiini.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 3:24 PM
Subject: (keitai-l) Re: Content provider profits


>
> Jeffrey L. Funk wrote:
>  > Hello everyone,
>  > the percentage of profitable content businesses is a fairly meaningless
>  > number. there are always a large percentage of firms that don't make
money
>  > particularly during the early years of an industry. for example, there
were
>  > 75 manufacturers of automobiles in the US in 1925, most of whom were
>  > clearly not profitable.
>
> I totally agree with Jeff! Here are some more numbers:
>
> US Telegraph companies:
> 1855: 50 companies
> 1857:  6 companies
> 1866:  1 company dominates
>
> US Railroads:
> 1920: 186 major railroad companies
> 1980:  39 major railroad companies
>
> US Cars:
> 1908: 253 car companies
> 1920: 108 car companies
> 1929: 80% of cars are produced by Chrysler, Ford or GM
>
> PCs:
> 1988:  45 PC companies
> 1993: 100 PC companies
> 2003: 51% of US market = Dell & HP
>
> The mobile industry is in the early stage, and much consolidation
> will come. As Jeff says, most of the i-mode industry will in the
> long run not be selling ringing tones and cartoon characters, or
> dating services of some kind. As I said in the previous email
> selling of JR-Tokkai Shinkansen tickets at US$ 125 a pop is not
> trivial, and it's off the DoCoMo balance sheet and off the DoCoMo
> statistics, and the profits are probably hidden elsewhere in
> JR-Tokkai's accounting. Their i-mode services even might appear
> as a loss-making IT-cost-center in the accounting.
>
> Gerhard
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Gerhard Fasol, PhD                         Eurotechnology Japan K. K.
> fasol_at_eurotechnology.com               http://www.eurotechnology.com/
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