Sam in Japan: A Visit with NTT DoCoMo

Editorial by Samuel Chan on Friday June 23, 2006.

Airport check-in

Coke machine payment

Retail payment

We will start our series of interviews with NTT DoCoMo, the largest operator in Japan. No matter how unfamiliar you are with the Japanese mobile world, you must have heard the company's name, or at least the company's brand i-mode.

During my stay in Japan, I had the chance to talk to Ichiro Fujisawa, the manager of Product Department, and Miki Nakajima McCants, international PR rep from the PR Department.

The two ton Gorilla of the Japanese Mobile Industry

Mobile giant NTT DoCoMo has an overwhelming market share of 55.9% in Japan, which translates to approximately 50 million mobile subscribers. 3G accounts for about 50% of their subscribers, and the percentage keeps rising. The success of the company in Japan is partly due to the i-mode brand, and partly the synchronization of hardware and software development.

NTT DoCoMo is the only operator in Japan that has its own research facilities for network, product, and content development. That is how DoCoMo could be the first in the world to introduce W-CDMA commercially. DoCoMo is also the first operator in the world to introduce electronic money on to phones. We are not talking about sticking an Oyster (UK) or Octopus (HK) chip on to the battery cover, we are talking about a contact-free IC chip (known as the Felica chip) incorporated into the device that allows you to view your purchase history and even add your credit (from the new Credit Card brand DCMX) on that very screen of your phone.

DoCoMo's strategy is to further integrate mobile phones into daily living. With the Felica chip, your phone can act as an electronic key at home, a train pass, and even a boarding pass for air travel. These Sci-Fi services have already been launched in Japan today.

Product line and consumer base

NTT DoCoMo strictly follows the operator-driven business model; hence the product line is extremely crucial in determining competitiveness. There are mainly 3 classes of devices today. The high end 90x series, the low-end 70x series, and individual "concept models". The high end series is used to make money and have the market try out new technologies, the low-end (mind you, some of them still have two megapixel cameras) is used to broaden the consumer base. Concept models are used to take care of the fashion conscious and those with special requests. Senior phones with much larger buttons and fonts, the Radiden with an FM radio and display on the back, the P901iTV, which is capable of receiving digital World Cup broadcast, and so on.

Felica reader

Felica reader

Recently a lot of emphasis has been put on the design. This is because phone advancement appears to have slowed down. The continual saturation and maturation of the market has made it ever so hard to induce people to purchase. Fortunately fashion is always hot, and now DoCoMo is adjusting its direction. They appear to be slowing down a bit and refining what they have, turning those monster devices into cooler and more practical devices before the onset of 4G.