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Apple’s iPhone goes on sale in Japan right now - Softbank makes a solid opening marketing move

It’s 7AM, and that means Apple’s 3G iPhone is going on sale at Softbank’s Omotesando location right now - but not until noon elsewhere. Am I posting from there? Heck no - I already have a phone, an iPod and two pockets, so I’m waiting for all the bugs to be worked out and for AU to start selling the thing.

There has been quite a bit of hoopla and discussion concerning the sale of the iPhone in Japan, and I think Softbank has made a brilliant marketing/PR decision in putting the iPhone on sale in Omotesando five hours before anywhere else in the country. First, this meant that the first iPhone bought in Japan would be bought in Omotesando, which is fashion culture center for the younger generation (or, perhaps better put, lies between Shibuya and Harajuku, the fashion culture centers for the younger generation). Read more

What Japan Thinks on Apple’s iPhone pricing

One of my favorite blogs, What Japan Thinks, has just published an excellent translation/writeup of a recent survey concerning Japanese consumer perceptions of Apple’s iPhone and it’s pricing. What I found most interesting is that just over 50% of respondents to the survey said that they would switch to an iPhone if the monthly cost came to 20,000 yen or less.

Softbank to sell the iPhone in Japan

This news is just out, but big: Softbank will be selling the iPhone in Japan later this year. Given that Softbank only sells 3G models, it looks fairly certain that the iPhone will be 3G here in Japan.

Details are scarce so far, but a huge marketing campaign is bound to be getting underway. No matter who got the deal to bring the iPhone to Japan, Dentsu turns out as the big winner, as they are contracted to do advertising for all three of Japan’s major mobile firms.

DoCoMo has a new logo; increased market share to follow?

We’ve touched before on the struggles facing DoCoMo, Japan’s mobile market leader. As the introduction of number portability and aggressive advertising and pricing campaigns from rivals AU and Softbank have driven DoCoMo’s market share under 50% for the first time since late 1998, the firm is at a crossroads. It has attempted to reassert itself as an innovator by launching a line of phones that emit scents, and is pushing the same kind of family discount packages on its website that Softbank has leveraged into market share expansion over the past year. Read more

DoCoMo’s market share falls below 50% - mobile fragrance service to help revival?

According to data released by the Telecommunications Carriers Association, NTT DoCoMO’s market share of Japan’s mobile phone users has fallen below 50% for the first time since December 1998. In March, the number of mobile and PHS contracts at DoCoMo fell by 2.5%, giving the firm 49.7% of the market, or about 53.4 million of Japan’s 107.4 million subscribers. Meanwhile, KDDI’s AU brand picked up a 0.4% rise in contracts to pull a 29.5% market share, while the number of contracts at Softbank Mobile increased by 1.7% to reach 18.1% of market share.

When PHS is pulled out of the equation, DoCoMo still holds about a 52% market share on mobile contracts, though the number of DoCoMo mobile contracts fell by 2.4% in March. DoCoMo is in the process of pulling out of the PHS market.

In fiscal 2007, Softbank saw the greatest net number of new subscribers, with 2.67 million users added to its network. AU had 2.15 million new users while DoCoMo’s net gain registered a lagging 766,000.

Softbank’s strength in FY2007 depended partly on its pricing plans and its push for consumers to buy one-seg television enabled phones. We also shouldn’t forget Softbank’s marketing, which has included television commercials with Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt, as well as the series with the White Plan family, starring none other than Aya Ueto: Read more

Sony to stop making cellular phone handsets for DoCoMo

Sony has become the latest firm to announce that it is pulling out of the domestic cellular phone handset market, joining Mistubishi and Sanyo. The Nikkei tells is that Sony has made the decision in order to focus on selling handsets overseas, where greater growth potential exists. Demand for new handsets in Japan is apparently stagnating at about 50 million units per year, and analysts expect that market to begin shrinking.

Sony Ericsson earned about 2.03 trillion from handset sales in 2007, though only about 10% of that figure was generated by domestic sales. Development costs for new handsets are apparently approaching about 10 billion yen per unit, which is simply making production for the domestic market less and less profitable.

How will this move play out for Sony? Clearly, it intends to challenge Nokia, the current global market leader, as well as the other globally successful handset makers. Currently, Sony ranks fourth in global sales and holds about 9% of the market. Can it do better?

Google, DoCoMo to join up on i-mode mobile services

This is a move that promises to be good for NTT DoCoMo, a firm which is currently Japan’s leader in market share for mobile phone services, though is seeing a large number of younger users defect for Japan’s other two service providers, Softbank and AU. According to Tuesday’s Nikkei, from this Spring, DoCoMo users will be able to use Google’s search, email, scheduling and picture storage services.

Why is this big news? Well, it seems as though DoCoMo has finally realized that it cannot control all operations in a vertical structure - to move forward in the future and protect its market share, it will have to reach out to other firms in order to offer appealing top-end services to its users.

Does this mean that DoCoMo’s vertical market strategy is on the outs? Probably not, though the firm will have to look at other ways to attract subscribers and provide services. We’ve been a bit surprised thus far that Softbank has failed to leverage its Yahoo Japan brand as part of a mobile services bundle, though this could be just the motivation they need…

Who’s going to bring Apple’s iPhone to Japan?

Apple has said that they would like to make the iPhone available in Asia sometime in 2008, and we’ve already speculated quite a bit on what form the iPhone could take in Japan. There have been a few developments, however, that make this story worth watching.

First, this past week we found out that spending on mobile phones in the US is at an all-time high, and it appears to be driven by iPhone-related revenue. We also see a report stating that mobile phone in Japan on average cost 74% more than in North America. This might take some people by surprise, but the truth is that no one really gets a 0 yen or 1 yen phone in Japan; the price of the phone is paid out as a surcharge on the monthly bill as part of the service contract. Read more

Disney and Softbank partner to offer cellular services

This isn’t exactly brand new, but we thought it might have been an April Fool’s gag in November: Disney, Softbank to Start Japan Mobile-Phone Service.

Bloomberg quotes an analyst from Nomura as saying that the challenge here would be in keeping down the prices of the handsets, but no figures are stuck to the article. Japan Marketing News has offered its thoughts on the plan in a post worth reading. A short bit:

Given the ever-present popularity of things cute in Japan, and the broad appreciation for all things Disney, the idea of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck phones and services is certainly feasible, perhaps more so than in any other country. After all, it is not at all unusual to see Japanese adults carrying Disney-branded bank cards or office supplies, and many Japanese are already using Disney phone straps and downloading Disney mobile content to their existing DoCoMo and au phones.

I’m wondering if we’ll see Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Aya Ueto, Hello Kitty, a bunch of Disney characters, the ni-chan guy, the white dog they call dad and the mom all together in a Softbank/Disney ad that might just vaporize viewers with its sheer incomprehensibility. As we know, Dentsu makes Softbank’s ads.

They also make DoCoMo and AU’s ads.

This really, seriously, better make money for all partners involved.

I’m also vaguely remembering that Disney and Apple are at odds. Still waiting for AU to announce that they’re bringing the iPhone to Japan…

Problem solved: Home antennas for cell phones legal from next summer

This morsel was in this morning’s Nikkei:

The government plans to revise telecommunications regulations to allow cell phone users to install small ground stations at their homes, offices or stores by summer 2008 to improve signal reception.

The change will make it possible to use handsets in high-rise condominiums, underground facilities and mountainous areas — places that are often outside the range of cellular phone service.

You won’t need an engineer to show up and install the antenna (they’re being awfully careful not to use that word. I guess ‘ground station’ is somehow more marketable), which is the law right now. Just head on down to Bic Camera, buy yourself an antenna and set it up at home. Instant cell phone reception.

No word yet on when DIY service provider kits will be hitting the market…

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