Hi all,
more thoughts on DoCoMo`s iMode vs. others!
>All of you are right, but you should not forget that I-mode got successful
>because it is docomo.
>They are gigantic and powerful and at the time I-mode started they were
>about 54% of the cell market.
I don`t think that DoCoMo`s large market share contribute much to its
success. If DDI/IDO and J-Phone were to implement everything DoCoMo has done
from the beginning (ex: payment system, educating efforts), I`m fairly
confident that DoCoMo would have had much harder time competing. It took
DDI/IDO until recently to get their payment system in place, and not
available in all regions. Recently, service offering of the two are more
similar, I think that`s why we see that the growth rate of iMode and WAP
have been comparable (in term of number of new subscribers). I think that
contributes to IDO/DDI`s mass marketing effort and the fact that there are
now more useful content and services on WAP.
However, DoCoMo is not staying still either. In my opinion, DoCoMo has
always been a marketing-driven company with strong technologies. Look at
other DoCoMo devices (ex: Camesse, PostPet device, and etc.) that stimulate
traffic on their networks. They are all designed with, first and foremost
consumer, consumers in mind and they explore how technologies can make it
happen. If you look at DoCoMo`s technology road map, it is quite impressive.
Java KVM will stimulate the next round of new and exciting services. It is
truly impressive and possibilities are endless. I haven`t heard any plan
like that from IDO/DDI. Please correct me if I`m wrong here. The pending
merger of IDO/DDI and KDD has crippled the fast planning, decision, and
execution that are needed. Merging all the components of the two WAP on CDMA
networks of IDO/DDI is and will be a challenge for them. Waiting for WAP
Forum standardization of new features is another discouraging factor.
IDO/DDI internal structure has also impaired the decision making process.
Remember that DoCoMo set out a special task force with people outside the
organization with background from enterpreneur, marketing, and etc. helped
set a different mindset from traditional telecom and helped speed up the
roll-out of iMode with most necessary business components in place from the
start.
DoCoMo has its own weaknesses as well. In my opinion, IDO/DDI and J-phone
have not explored and taken advantage of those weaknesses. As Ren pointed
out, most iMode users still think of iMode services as DoCoMo`s Intranet.
All the official sites must follow strict rules and regulations (ex: no
external links, no comm tools like chat and BBS, charges must be between 100
to 300 yen, etc.) If IDO/DDI and J-Phone were to explore those weaknesses to
make their services more representative of the true Internet, I`m sure that
they will gain more attention and acceptance. IDO/DDI can also explore the
foreign-based content on WAP as one differentiator as well. And of course,
automatic cHTML-WAP conversion tool will also level the playing field.
Another weakness that none of the mobile operators are exploring is the
complimentary role of wired and wireless. They all focus very much on pure
wireless. I think exploring the potential of how wired Internet can provide
an extension of their wireless offering is worth considering and will prove
to be lucrative in the future.
In conclusion, if IDO/DDI and J-Phone were to explore DoCoMo`s weaknesses,
plan business strategies to attack them, and execute flawlessly, even the
mightly DoCoMo will have more difficult time to compete. However, if they
continue to play catch-up with little proactive plan of attack, they will
continue to be in a long uphill battle, expecially when Java KVM comes in
and much more personalized applications and services are possible.
oops.. sorry again for the long email!!
Punnamas
>-----Original Message-----
>From: keitai-l-bounce@appelsiini.net
>[mailto:keitai-l-bounce@appelsiini.net] On Behalf Of Renfield Kuroda
>Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 6:04 PM
>To: keitai-l@appelsiini.net
>Subject: (keitai-l) Re: Another Euro iMode story; accuracy??
>
>Punnamas nailed it. The reason I-Mode was and continues to be successful is
>because from day one there were LOTS of high-quality, trustworthy sites
>with
>good content and a simple payment scheme.
>
>People seem to think I-Mode is the Wireless Web; it's not. It's a giant
>DoCoMo
>intranet. Think about that as a business model.
>
>r e n
>
>
>punnamas vichitkulwongsa wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I strongly agree with Ren here. It was not so much the technology that
>makes
> > iMode a runaway success. It is the business model and all the components
> > that make it works (ex:payment settlement service, directory listing,
>and
> > etc.) that makes iMode successful. More specifically, it is the content
>and
> > services on iMode that add tremendous value. The technology with
>always-on
> > packet mode, ease of use, and etc. helped iMode gained early acceptance.
> > However, WAP on CDMAOne can do most of what iMode can do now and has
>always
> > been faster than iMode`s 9.6kpbs and technically, you can take advantage
>of
> > WAP`s card/deck concept. But the KEY differentiator is that DoCoMo
>realized
> > from the beginning that it is the content and services that will drive
> > consumer demand, not so much on the technology. They did a lot of
>educating
> > and providing assistant to content providers (ex: publishers) and
>service
> > providers (ex: banks) to create iMode sites even before the official
>launch
> > of iMode service. As a result, from day one consumer sees value in
>iMode.
> > IDO/DDI and same with most operators around the World have focused too
>much
> > of their effort on optimizing the technology while have done poorly in
> > creating an effective business model to support the technology. For
>example,
> > it took IDO/DDI until recently to have payment settlement service in
>place
> > and charges that are based-on packet. There has been hardly any efforts
>from
> > IDO/DDI to make WAP easier to use or create content/services with.
>DoCoMo
>on
> > the other hand is now talking to companies like Digital Hollywood to
>further
> > extend the knowledge and reduce the learning curve on iMode technology.
> >
> > In conclusion, WAP can also thrived if mobile operators put all the
> > components in place to create compelling business cases for both
>business
> > (content/service provider) and mobile subscribers.
> >
> > Punnamas
> >
> > >
> > >I am always facinated by blanket quotes like "technically superior" --
> > >as an engineer I ponder what that phrase means.
> > >
> > >But what nobody seems to understand is the that the success of I-Mode
> > >has NOTHING to do with technical standards; it's the business model
>that
> > >was successful, and it's the business model that DoCoMo will export out
> > >of Japan and it's the business model that is killing the current WAP
> > >business model.
> > >I-Mode business model on WAP or 2-way pagers or cHTML...it doesn't
> > >matter how the bits flow, people want a pricing structure, contents,
>and
> > >a settlement system.
> > >
> > >And the more European/US wireless fanatics ignore this truth, the more
> > >likely they are to be crushed, regardless of technology.
> > >
> > >r e n
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > ________________________________________________________________________
> > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
>
>
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Received on Wed Jun 21 07:28:15 2000