A few snips of info on Japanese Mobile Industry
Posted by silverstag on August 12, 2008
I came across this Techcrunch post on Japanese Mobile Web. Something I thought might interest some of you folks. It’s a long read. So, I’ll put up a few scraps from the page here.
90 million 3G handsets are currently in circulation..
100 different Internet-enabled 3G handsets per year.
over-the-counter payments (e-wallet), commuter pass in public transportation, 2D barcode reader, health control terminal, dictionary, karaoke player, digital TV, music player, e-book are just a few things Japanese have come to take for granted.
video transfer from Blu-ray recorders, alarm buzzers with direct connection to the nearest police station or voice-to-text translation and mobile web access at a maximum of 54 Mbps on Wi-Fi enabled phones.
availability of cutting-edge phones is one reason why many Japanese people don’t own a PC but would rather browse the web exclusively on mobile devices. Booking flights online, ordering clothes, auctioning off used stuff, gaming, paying for movie tickets via direct debit are a few other perks..
A few numbers now…
business carried out through cell phones in Japan was worth $106 billion in 2007 (up 23% from 2006), with m-commerce accounting for $67 billion and the mobile content market for $39 billion. Just one example: Cell phone owners downloaded music worth $10.2 billion, 42% more than in 2006.
What’s in store…?
NTT Docomo successfully transmitted 250Mbps packets in an experimental Super 3G system, planning to end preparations for the eventual launch by 2009.
While the world is still playing catch-up, these guys are setting standards for our future infrastructure and services.
