Japanese vendors look for overseas expansion, this time for real...

I decided to write this post in a response to a very thoughtful analysis of 2010 handset vendor trends made by Tomi Ahonen on his Communities Dominate Brands blog. Among other vendors, Tomi lays out his expectations for Japanese vendors, especially citing Fujitsu as the world's fifth biggest smartphone maker. Thanks, Tomi ;) I am not going to touch here the very tricky subject of smartphone definition, but am just going to say that in Japan the most phones sold by domestic vendors, including Fujitsu are not considered to be smartphones. However, Tomi's post made me wonder when we can expect Japanese vendors compete on a worldwide scale. After several failed attempts in the past, this and next year will be crucial for Japanese vendors to launch internationally as the window of opportunity is quickly closing.

Gloom in domestic market

The Japan mobile phone market saw sequential decline in the third quarter of 2009, becoming the worst quarter in five years in terms of total handset shipments, according to IDC Japan. Mobile phone shipments totaled 7.32 million units, down 12.8% from a year earlier. Quarter-on-quarter growth remained negative for eight quarters in a row. The major showstoppers were:

• Lack of compelling high-end handsets
• Increased handset replacement cycle
• Excess inventories on operator side

To go global or not to go?

With such a pessimistic mood in their backyard, Japanese vendors face an invitable choice - to go global or die trying. Top five domestic mobile phone vendors by 3Q2009 (see chart above) - Sharp, Fujitsu, Panasonic, NEC and Kyocera are already selling phones in some markets outside Japan or planning to do so very soon. It doesn't mean everybody will succeed and I expect some market consolidation by the end of this year or earlier into the next year. Here is a summary of who done what and what to expect next.

Sharp

Sharp is the one to watch closely after as the company is rumored to be the manufacturer of the first "Microsoft" phone - a device based on Danger Hiptop/Sidekick platform acquired by Microsoft a couple of years ago. Sharp also plans to enter markets in Europe and North America after it tasted the waters in the nearby Asian markets including Taiwan and China. Sharp sold about 1.6 million devices abroad in 2008 and aims to boost that number to 4 million units by March 2010.

Fujitsu

Fujitsu made a modest enter into the Taiwan market, partnering with FET in January 2009. Last year, the company also joined Symbian Foundation reinforcing its support for Symbian OS domestically and utilizing the membership as an opportunity to broaden the Symbian appeal elsewhere. However, Fujitsu is not only focused on Symbian - the company is also known for manufacturing Windows Mobile handsets and it created the whole market niche in Japan with its very successful Raku-Raku lineup targetd at senior end-users. Obviously, I can't say anything beyond that but expect Fujitsu to make some headlines in future.

Panasonic

Panasonic is rumored to enter neighboring markets, with the main destination being China. There are some talks of Panasonic considering South American markets, especially Brazil where the similar with Japan's mobile TV standard is being adopted.

Toshiba

Backed by NTT DoCoMo, Toshiba added its first customer win in Europe in June 2009 by partnering with Spain's Telefonica. Having attracted industry's attention with the release of the TG01 - one of the thinnest Windows Mobile smartphones produced by ODM vendor for Toshiba, the company made a decision to outsource the manufacturing of phones out of Japan from October 2009.

NEC (NEC/Hitachi/Casio)

Having retreated from overseas markets in 2006, NEC is planning a comeback. First, it joined forces with two other players - Hitachi and Casio. As the leverage, the new company can utilize Casio's existing channel in the US. As you might've known, Casio found its niche in the US with a ruggedized and water resistant phone line bound for Verizon Wireless. Hitachi also rebranded its Wooo W53H keitai into the canU S1000 and shipped it to South Korea

Kyocera

Kyocera is an old-timer in the US market and now company also sells in Soth America as well. It got into Sprint's storefronts through the acquisition of another troubled Japanese vendor Sanyo. The prospects are still not clear for Kyocera overseas and domestically the picture is even worse.

Japanese vendors overseas
Kyocera	USA/Canada/Russia/India/Thai/Vietnam/New Zealand
Sharp	Europe/North America/China/Taiwan/Hong Kong
Toshiba	Europe/Asia
NEC-Hitachi-Casio	USA/South Korea
Fujitsu	Taiwan
Source:	M-Report

NTT DoCoMo considering Sony Ericsson Android Xperia X10

Things look bright for Android in Japan. Following the release of Japan's first Android smartphone - the HTC Magic earlier this year, NTT DoCoMo is considering to ship its second Android device. Most likely it will be the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor-equipped Android smartphone with a 4-inch touchscreen recently announced by vendor. During the new handset lineup introduction, the DoCoMo's CEO said the operator is evaluating the possibility of selling the X10 during next year's spring-summer season. Other Japan's major operators including KDDI au and Softbank are also said preparing Android devices for launch next year. At the last press conference Softbank shared some details about its future Android smartphone saying it would feature the Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 3.7-inch OLED touchscreen and support Android's application store Marketplace. While the maker remains unknown, something tells me it might be Samsung.

DoCoMo to commercially rollout LTE in December 2010

DoCoMo is said to reveal its LTE roadmap at ITU Telecom World 2009 convention. According to DoCoMo's officials the company plans to commercially deploy LTE in December 2010. Below are some important bits of information about DoCoMo's LTE plans:

• Initially, LTE will overlap with company's 3G coverage to ensure service persistence
• Dual-mode 3G/LTE devices will be offered with voice carried out by 3G networks
• Once LTE coverage is sufficient the phone calls will become IP-based
• LTE will be first deployed in the 2.1GHz band, followed by spread into the 1.5GHz around 2012 and then adding 800MHz and 1.7GHz to the offering
• DoCoMo plans to install 20K LTE base stations by 2014 which should cover 50% of population
• First, LTE data cards will go on sale, with LTE mobile phones following in 2011 or later

Source: IT Media Pro Mobile

DoCoMo is in eco-friendly move with wooden phones

Heading for the ITU Telecom World 2009 event DoCoMo is bringing some phone prototypes dressed up in wooden jackets. Before hearing the steamy "Save trees!" protests, here is a revelation for you from DoCoMo: "The prototypes are made with the surplus wood of trees culled during thinning operations to maintain healthy forests." One of the prototypes is the original Sharp SH04-A in a wooden dress. To make prototypes look nice inside too, DoCoMo put in place a nice graphical UI based on the photographic art of Mikiya Takimoto, a well-known green forest evangelist.

Source: NTT DoCoMo

iPhone 3GS tops the charts in Japan

The recent mobile phone sale figures from GfK show the rise of the iPhone 3GS 32Gb model to the top of the charts. Softbank's marketing campaign under the "iPhone for Everyone" slogan is clearly bearing the fruit. Just two weeks ago iPhone was ranked tenth...

TOP 10 (Sep. 7-13)
1(3) iPhone 3GS 32Gb	Softbank
2(2) Sharp SH-06A	NTT DoCoMo
3(1) Sharp SH001	KDDI au
4(6) Sharp SH-02A	NTT DoCoMo
5(4) SE W64S	KDDI au
6(12) iPhone 3GS 16Gb	Softbank
7(5) Panasonic 830P	Softbank
8(8) Sharp URBANO	KDDI au
9(7) Sharp SH-05A	NTT DoCoMo
10(10) iPhone 3G 8GB	Softbank

Previous Japan's top 10 mobile phone rankings:

• Top 10: Aug. 31-Sep. 6

Source: IT Media Mobile

Bar code scanner Windows smartphone from Fujitsu

This niche but powerfull smartphone manufactured by Fujitsu for DoCoMo impressed me after looking under its hood. Oh boy, it's got some power. Of course, it is compatible with any kind of bar code standard you can imagine. Too bad it is limited to some vertical industry use scenarios like transportation or logistics. It should be available in 1Q2010.

Phone Specs
Platform / OS:	Windows Mobile 6.5 Pro
WCDMA:	FOMA 7.2Mbps
WLAN:	802.11 b/g
Bluetooth:	Yes
GPS:	Yes
Water resistant:	IPX5/IPX7
Shock resistant:	IP5X
Touch screen:	2.8inch WQVGA TFT 65K
Memorty:	MicroSD(2GB)/SDHC(8GB)
Camera:	2.0MP
Weight:	180g
Dimensions:	154mm X 51mm X 20mm

Source: NTT DoCoMo

Top 10: Best selling mobile phone in Japan

The first week of September witnessed a big jump of iPhone 3GS from the 10th to third ranking in top 10 selling mobile phone rankings in Japan. The big jump is attributed to solving the earlier inventory problems for iPhone 3GS. Nevertheless, the undisputed leader Sharp saw two of its models swapping the top and second positions, securing its hold on Japanese market.

TOP 10
1(2) Sharp SH001	KDDI au
2(1) Sharp SH-06A	NTT DoCoMo
3(10) iPhone 3GS	Softbank
4(6) SE W64S	KDDI au
5(5) Panasonic 810P	Softbank
6(13) Sharp SH-02A	NTT DoCoMo
7(3) Sharp SH-05A	NTT DoCoMo
8(18) Sharp URBANO	KDDI au
9(7) NEC N-08A	NTT DoCoMo
10(4) iPhone 3G 8GB	Softbank

Source: IT Media Mobile

Push-to-Talk failure in Japan

Mesmerized by the US Nextel's success with its PTT service running on Nextel's proprietary iDen network in early 2000's, Japanese carriers including DoCoMo and KDDI au also introduced similar services utilizing existing cellular networks in Japan in 2005. However, the concept never really took off in Japan. According to DoCoMo, about one hundred thousand users use the service on a monthly basis. As the result, both carriers announced the pending retirement of PTT services with KDDI au shutting down its in August this year, followed by DoCoMo with the plans to close the service in September next year.

Source: IT Media

Blackberry Bold makes it into the Top 10 of weekly sales at DoCoMo

I was quite surprised when I looked through the DoCoMo's top weekly handset sales published by Keitai Watch via ITC Network. I saw something I don't recall seeing for a long time - a foreign model making it to the top ten. Living up to its name the maverick was Blackberry Bold, which went on sale in February this year. It is already May but as you can see it is still kicking.

Mobile marketing primer: coupon service Toruca in baseball promo

Local baseball team Seibu Lions claims to be the first in Japan to implement a mobile content distribution system to please their fans. The system is using NTT DoCoMo's Toruca service, which allows Seibu's fans to get players' pics, their profiles and team schedule onto the phones via NFC terminal installed at the fans booth in the stadium. All they need to do is just to wave their Toruca-compatible phones in front of the reader and the data will be pushed wirelessly to them.

Source: Seibu Lions

One millionth user subscribes with DoCoMo's iConcier service

In five months after the launch of iConcier service, DoCoMo boosted its number of subscribers to one million. iConcier is a content push-type service delivering various information to user's phone screen. It updates local, traffic and weather information along with the integration of DoCoMo's other services including Calendar, coupon service Toruca and Address Book. It costs 210 yen on a monthly basis and can be personilized with a mascot of your choice.

Source: IT Media

Japan finishes 2008 with 110 million mobile phone subscribers

The “low-baller” competition led by Softbank and eMobile is on in Japan and DoCoMo seems to be back in the game while KDDI and Willcom are out of steam. The December 2008 new adds data from TCA shows just that (see above). Overall, Japan carriers including PHS operator Willcom added 401 thousand new subscribers in December 2008 boosting the country’s total number of mobile phone users to over 110 million equal to 87% of population penetration.

As for the carrier market shares, DoCoMo is in comfortable first-class seat with over 49% of the market while the second and third contenders KDDI and Softbank are chugging behind with 27% and 18% market shares correspondently (see below).

Source: TCA

Top ten handset models sold by DoCoMo in second week of Oct 08

ITC Network, a retail kisok operator, released NTT DoCoMo's handset sales popularity rank in the second week of this month. Panasonic P906i in metallic and black color variations was the favourite followed by Sharp's SH906i in white. Fujitsu's senior users-oriented phone Raku-Raku 5 F884iES in Golden color closed the top-five rank letting another Panasonic's P906i in white to get in front of it. See details below.

1. Panasonic P906i (Metallic)
   
2. Panasonic P906i (Black)
   
3. Sharp SH906i (White)
   
4. Panasonic P906i (White)
   
5. Fujitsu F884iES (Golden)
   
6. NEC N706i (Pink)
   
7. NEC N906iμ (Saphire Black)
   
8. NEC N906iμ (Pink Diamond)
   
9. Panasonic P706iμ (Champagne)
   
10. NEC N706iII (Polish Black)
    

Source: ITCNetwork via K-tai.impress.co.jp

HTC aims for 5% of Japan mobile handset market

This week HTC held a press conference in Japan to share its vision and strategy of tackling Japan mobile handset market and also to mark the launch of HTC Touch Pro and HTC Touch Diamond devices along with Touch FLO 3D user interface. 

HTC's outlook for Japanese operations is positive with optimistic goal to grab 5% of domestic unit shipments in near future. HTC will need to ship about 2.6 million devices annually in order to achieve its 5% goal (annual handset shipments in Japan reached 52.3m in 2007, according to Gartner).

HTC's confidence is based on global success of HTC Touch smartphone, which sold in almost 3 million devices from its launch in 2007. The new and enhanced Touch-based models Touch Pro and Touch Diamond should drive more sales, according to HTC. Having launched HTC Diamond in May 2008, HTC reports global sales of 1 million devices with the forecast of 3 million shipments by the end of October 2008.

Along with new devices, HTC also refined its strategy in Japan, including the following moves:

• Target multiple carriers by shipping HTC Touch Diamond to DoCoMo, Softbank, and eMobile and HTC Pro to DoCoMo, KDDI au, and Softbank
• Provide a thorough localization for Japanese carriers enabling carrier-specific email, menus, text input, navigation apps in Japanese
• Bring HTC's latest handsets to Japan in timely fashion (in sync with global launch)...

Source: IT Media +D Mobile

iPhone sales go flat in Japan?

Market research company GfK has just released handset sales rankings for the first week of October in Japan. Surprisingly, Apple iPhone didn't make it to the country's top ten and even ended up third in Softbank's line up. Talking about the novelty effect evaporating...Overall, October is a slow month in Japan as the industry holds its breath for carriers' winter handset lineup announcements. But will Apple have something new to offer? I doubt that. To make it worse for Softbank, an iPhone's operator in Japan, none of its models was listed in top ten list. At the same time DoCoMo's models occupied the top list taking seven out of ten positions including the first top three. Unfortunately, GfK doesn't make public the handset sales numbers but at least you can see the top ten list below:

1. Panasonic P906i (NTT DoCoMo)
2. NEC N906iμ (NTT DoCoMo)
3. Sharp SH906i (NTT DoCoMo)
4. Sharp W62SH (KDDI au)
5. Toshiba W61T (KDDI au)
6. NEC N706iμ (NTT DoCoMo)
7. Panasonic 706iμ (NTT DoCoMo)
8. Fujitsu Raku-Raku Phone V (NTT DoCoMo)
9. Sony Ericsson W62S (KDDI au)
10. NEC N706iII (NTT DoCoMo)

Source: GfK via ITMedia

Japan handset distribution channels: over 10,000 kiosks

Japanese wireless carriers control the significant part of the handset retail distribution channels – approximately 80% belong to carrier-owned stores. According to M-Report’s estimates, top three carriers, including NTT DoCoMo, KDDI au, and Softbank own over 8,000 retail kiosks. Consumer electronics stores and general retail account for additional 2,000 POSs, making the total number of specialized mobile phone stores over 10,000.

Source: M-Report

Will DoCoMo offer LG Prada instead of Apple iPhone?

Wall Street Journal reported that DoCoMo would bring LG Prada to Japan on May 23. The news raises a question of a fate of iPhone on DoCoMo’s network. It’s no secret that Prada is a direct competitor with the iPhone. Why would DoCoMo bring Prada if it was going to introduce iPhone? In a simple logic, you don’t want to cannibalize your iPhone sales by bringing a competing product. AT&T serves as a good example here. I have two theories to explain this move by DoCoMo. First of all, the negotiations between Apple and DoCoMo didn’t bring a fruit and DoCoMo decided to launch a competing product ahead of the iPhone’s launch on a rival’s network – Softbank’s, to be precise. Second, DoCoMo decided it takes too long for Apple to come up with 3G iPhone for Japanese market. There is still a possibility that iPhone will be shipped by DoCoMo as the Prada’s move can be seen by someone as pressure on Apple to become more flexible in its terms. We’ll see very soon.

Related iPhone articles:

• Apple’s iPhone to hit Japan market in 2008?
• iPhone balancing act: DoCoMo or SoftBank?
• Japanese users think iPhone is fat

Source: WSJ

DoCoMo to support LiMo, Android, Symbian, etc.

In a search of next growth engine, NTT DoCoMo is experimenting with various mobile operating systems for its handsets. It was just a couple of weeks ago when they announced plans to launch Android-based phones by 2010. Now they are announcing that their Linux MOAP platform will be re-tuned to LiMo specs as an operator pack for FOMA 3G handsets. According to DoCoMo, “the pack will contain a suite of Linux operating system-based software applications that implement i-mode™, i-appli™ and other unique DoCoMo services.” There was also a mentioning of developing a similar pack for Symbian MOAP platform. Besides that, DoCoMo also sells Windows Mobile smartphones, RIM’s Blackberry messaging machines and there are rumors it might offer Apple’s iPhone. What a soup of OSs? Isn’t it too much to handle even for DoCoMo?

Source: NTT DoCoMo

NTT DoCoMo is in a rebranding exercise

Having witnessed its market share dropping below 50% for the first time in a decade, NTT DoCoMo is introducing a new brand logo in an attempt to galvanize its ailing business. According to DoCoMo, the new logo means “energy and dynamism”. The change will require to do a makeover of 1,800 shops and, as Financial Times put it, “a small forest of stationery”. This is not the first attempt for DoCoMo to change its image – last summer it started a marketing campaign under the “DoCoMo 2.0” brand. However, changing the brand is far from being enough to reverse the market dynamics into your favor and hopefully DoCoMo realizes this.

Related articles on DoCoMo’s strategy:

• i-mode loses its appeal?
  

Sharp handsets do magic and spur mobile web usage in Japan

CNet Japan reported Be Trend’s research results about the mobile internet usage in Japan in January 2007. First, they show the breakdown of mobile internet access shares by carrier. The trend here reflects the recent turn around at Softbank, with carrier’s share surpassing 9% in January and gradually heading to a 10% milestone. Nevertheless, NTT DoCoMo still holds the lion’s share of mobile phone users accessing mobile web.

What is more interesting is that Be Trend was able to track down the mobile web access statistics to a single handset model, publishing top five models for each carrier. First come DoCoMo handsets with the top five ranking being occupied with spring and summer models of 2007. However, the latest models of 905i series also start penetrate the ranks, with Be Trend reporting that the P905i has made the Top 10 list with a 2.7% share.

Sharp entered KDDI au’s Top 5 list the W52SH model for the first time. Considering Sharp’s leading positions with other carriers, this success with KDDI au tells that Sharp has found a winning formula to manufacture both the CDMA and WCDMA handsets with appealing design and user friendly interface.

Softbank’s Top 5 list of devices used to access mobile web is dominated by Sharp model – only Toshiba handset prevents Sharp from taking all five positions.

Source: CNet Japan (Japanese)

DoCoMo-Google partnership: i-mode on Google steroids

In January, Google Japan and NTT DoCoMo announced their intention to work together to bring Google search, AdWords advertising platform and other Google apps to DoCoMo’s i-mode phone users. While Google already has relationships with KDDI au, the deal with DoCoMo goes beyond a simplistic inclusion of Google search box on the top page of i-mode portal. DoCoMo is about to stop playing a gatekeeper role as its users will search and browse beyond the operator’s own portal. So what are the changes that Google brings to DoCoMo i-mode?

Search results are fetched from three sources
Google search engine indexes three web domains for results: 1) i-mode sites approved by DoCoMo; 2) non-official i-mode sites; and 3) generic Internet websites. Before, users couldn’t perform searches that included non-official and Internet websites from i-mode portal.

Search results are grouped by three types
The way search results are displayed on i-mode portal is also will be changed to reflect the addition of non-official i-mode sites and Internet websites. Based on the source, Google and DoCoMo will group the search results accordingly.

Google keyword-based ads are integrated into search results
A big win for Google is the decision to integrate its AdWords advertising platform into i-mode portal. Now, keyword-relevant text ads marked with a [PR] sign will be placed in up to three locations across the page with search results with a total number of ads not exceeding four. No word about the revenue-sharing model between Google and DoCoMo though.

Display ads to compliment text ads
While details are not clear, there are some reports that Google AdWords platform will also be used to serve display ads such as banners across a bunch of DoCoMo’s services including i-mode portal, Message F (free), G-guide and others. DoCoMo’s D2Communications ad agency will work with Google on implementation of this new mobile marketing structure.

More Google apps to be preinstalled on DoCoMo handsets
Two companies agreed to preinstall a set of Google apps on DoCoMo handsets in near future. The first app to be preinstalled is Google Maps. The Fujitsu F905i and NEC N905i handset already spot Google Maps. All future handset models will be equipped with Google Maps, according to DoCoMo. Having started with the integration of Google Maps, the companies also plan to make Gmail, Picasa, YouTube and Google Calendar optimized for i-mode usage. The idea is to enable all kinds of mashups between these apps and search results like having a link from search results page to Google Maps for example.

Google to become a default page for DoCoMo Full Browser
It was decided that DoCoMo’s all future handsets with a full browser installed will have Google’s top page as a start page by default.

DoCoMo’s Android plans
It seems that DoCoMo wanted to ensure both the i-mode services and Android working seamlessly on its handsets when it joined Google’s led OHA initiative. We can expect i-mode handsets optimized for Google services rather than a complete shift to one platform – Android. Thus, DoCoMo’s handsets based on Symbian MOAP and Linux MOAP platforms will be optimized for Android experience, while some new Linux-based Android handsets will be optimized for i-mode service.

Related articles on Google's mobile strategy in Japan:

• Mobile Google localization primer: emoji and mobile Gmail
• Google Japan intros new single portal for domestic mobile operators
• Google befriends with KDDI, plans global expansion from within Japan?

Signs of LTE becoming a 4G technology of choice emerge in Japan

It is no wonder that WCDMA carriers like NTT DoCoMo and Softbank in Japan might pick LTE (Long Term Evolution) cellular technology for the upgrade of their current 3G networks. After all, LTE is considered to be a more optimal path for them than alternative 4G technologies, such as WiMAX. As a matter of fact, DoCoMo is already moving into that direction as it just announced the selection of Ericsson for its LTE base station development project. The two companies have a long history. Since 1992, Ericsson has delivered PDC base stations to NTT DoCoMo and, more recently, W-CDMA base stations for the operator's FOMA network. However, there are signs that even carriers from opposite to UMTS camp – CDMA, are hesitant about upgrading from their CDMA EV-DO networks to the Qualcomm’s proposed UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband). CDMA carriers worldwide, Verizon Wireless, Vivo, KFT and SKT in Korea, made a pledge for the WCDMA upgrade path. What’s more interesting is that Japan’s CDMA carrier KDDI also seems to be evaluating its options about 4G. upgrade. According to Jean-Pierre Bienamé, chairman of the UMTS Forum, he senses a change of direction in the KDDI boardroom. “They have frozen development on EV-DO Rev A and are now assessing Rev B and Rev C alongside all the other options, including WiMAX and LTE. The decision criteria will be on cost reduction per bit and it is here where LTE has an advantage,” he said in an interview to Telecommunications Magazine.

Push-type Gmail comes to DoCoMo’s i-mode handsets

J-Com together with NTT DoCoMo launched a new service that allows DoCoMo’s i-mode users to receive push emails from their Gmail accounts. Every time a new email arrives to Gmail server, J-Com’s service pushes it to recipient’s mobile phone Blackberry-style with a notification sound. Besides viewing the emails, mobile user can actually write responses as well. J-Com also will leave a copy of received and sent email on Gmail server ensuring a synchronized experience between PC and mobile phone. A similar push email service from J-Com is also available for users who have Mac email accounts. While the J-Com’s service is very useful, their billing model seems to be draconian for users. Based on an agreement between J-Com and DoCoMo, the mobile operator will collect a yearly fee of JPY4,800 ($45) and will bill for the incurred data traffic as you go, meaning users can’t apply their flat data plans to enjoy the service.

Source: J-Com press release (Japanese)

Nokia in Japan: Keep a low profile for now?

Keitai Watch did a good coverage of Nokia’s event in Japan dedicated to the upcoming launch of FOMA NM705i handset model by NTT DoCoMo. The event also included a press conference with Nokia Japan CEO Tyler McGee. First, let’s start with the phone and then a couple of thoughts about Mr. McGee’s answers to the press.

FOMA NM705i – let others tailor their handsets for Japanese market?
The NM705i is a typical mass-market Nokia candy bar and that is what makes it interesting in terms of how Nokia intends to position it in the market dominated by smartphones featuring built-in TV tuners and credit cards. According to Nokia, the key concepts they are promoting are style and design, which turn the handset into an accessory by complementing person’s looks and feelings. They believe that young women in their 20-30s will find the NM705i appealing. Nokia mentions a sophisticated European design, global GSM/3G roaming, compact size, original interface of home screen, and pre-installed Japanese-English dictionary as other points that should differentiate this device in Japan. At the same time the model misses (intentionally, I assume) some Japan-market only features such as a one-seg TV tuner, contactless payments chipset, full music download service, GPS, DoCoMo’s i-channel and others.

Nokia's press conference
Video conferencing is one high-end feature that can be found on the NM705i and this is very illustrative of Nokia’s strategy. I’ll explain why later. According to Keitai Watch, Nokia CEO was also asked a question about one-seg and mobile wallet, the features missing from Nokia’s Japan bound phones. In Nokia’s opinion these features are getting popular but their take up is not big enough for Nokia to add them to Nokia’s products, but Nokia doesn’t rule out the possibility of using them in future as value-added features. I assume this means that Nokia doesn’t want to waste its resources to tailor its handsets to Japanese market’s specific needs. First of all, Japanese market is not significant for Nokia in terms of its yearly handset sales volume. Second, Nokia’s huge competitive advantage is economies of scale through the unification of feature sets for each handset product segment. None of other global markets require one-seg tuners or contactless chipsets at this time except Japan. Nokia is not going to change its production lines to manufacture one-seg phones for Japan only. However, once a particular feature like video conferencing gets a widespread uptake, Nokia will use its economies of scale to incorporate this feature into its phones and ship them globally. As the contactless payments-based mobile wallet feature gets its portion of attention worldwide, Japanese users can hope to purchase Nokia’s own mobile wallet phones.

In conclusion, there are still some opportunities for Nokia to expand its market share in Japan without adding technological advancements to its phones. The Japan market is going through some changes such as reducing its dependency on carriers’ handset subsidies and warming up to the idea of sales of unlock phones. These changes should play out nice for Nokia as its economies of handset production will allow introducing a variety of mobile phones at lower prices. However, before that happens I expect Nokia to continue keeping a comparatively small presence in the Japanese market.

Source: Keitai Watch

Nokia NM705i Specs
Model:	NM7059
Carrier:	NTT DoCoMo
Maker:	Nokia
Price:	N/A
Form factor:	Candy bar
Color variations:	Orange, Black, White
Weight:	89g
Dimensions:	105 X 46 X 15mm
Main display:	QVGA, 2" (320X240) TFT
Talk time:	144min (3G), 186min (GSM)
Standby time:	216 hours (3G/GSM)
Platform / OS:	N/A
Memory:	47MB
Memory card slot:	MicroSD card up to 4GB
GPS / Location:	No
Bluetooth:	Yes (ver. 2.0)
Infrared:	No
USB:	Yes (mini USB)
Wi-Fi:	No
Main camera:	2.0MP
Video calling:	Yes
One-seg TV:	No
Music player:	Yes (MP3, M4A, eAAC+, WMA)
Browser:	Not a full browser
FM radio:	Yes
Mobile Wallet:	No
QR-code:	No
Biometrics:	No

DoCoMo's HSPDA nationwide coverage reaches 96%

DoCoMo sees a direct correlation between network speed and increasing data ARPU. That’s why it aggressively rolling out HSDPA-compatible devices and blanketing the every corner of Japan with HSDPA coverage. At a press conference in January, the operator’s president Mr. Nakamura claimed the 96% of Japan territory to be in a service area of DoCoMo’s HSDPA network. DoCoMo plans to improve the coverage a notch up to 97% by March this year. A combination of flat data plan, mobile content services and high network speed start bearing fruit as the overall data ARPU has reached JPY2,200 (around $20), a healthy increase by 9.5% from last year. For comparison, the data ARPU of users on a flat data plan with HSDPA phones alone was impressive JPY3,950 ($36). Now, you can imagine why it’s important to have all three elements (network, handsets and content) in place for data revenues finally making a home run.

iPhone balancing act: DoCoMo or SoftBank?

Apple is reported to conduct talks with Japan's two UMTS carriers on a subject of who will launch iPhone in Japan. KDDI au the second biggest carrier is missing from the talks due to its CDMA network standard, which is not supported by iPhone. Japan is poised to become a first country to enjoy 3G version of iPhone. However, it is not clear who will get the "right of first night" with iPhone. DoCoMo variant is more attractive for Apple as the carrier controls more than 50% of market in Japan. However, DoCoMo is notoriously known for its tight control of the handset ecosystem in Japan and is not willing to cede it to anybody else. Maybe, that is the reason why Apple is bringing SoftBank to the negotiation table - to make DoCoMo play by Apple's rules over the fear that the iPhone deal may be snatched by SoftBank. It looks like Apple needs to stand firm with its conditions of revenue sharing with operators. If it shows weakness now, operators in other countries will demand the same deal. The possible solution is a compromise between Apple and DoCoMo - Apple still get the revenue-sharing but with a smaller margin than it got in the US or Europe (and other operators won't necessarily know about the terms of the deal). Below are some headlines from today's news sources discussing the matter:

• Apple Mulls Options for iPhone Japan
• Apple plays DoCoMo against Softbank over iPhone
• Apple in Talks with DoCoMo in Japan
• Apple Meets With DoCoMo, Softbank On Launching iPhone in Japan

Sharp SH905i first to feature Dolby Mobile

Sharp came up with an amazing piece of technology when they recently announced the SH905i handset for NTT DoCoMo. According to Sharp, it is the first handset in the world to use Dolby Mobile technology to enhance the sound of music and live TV played on the SH905i. The list of wow things they put into this phone doesn’t end with Dolby Mobile. Other advancements worth mentioning include 3-inch Wide VGA AQUOS display that uses Sharp’s proprietary developed vertical alignment technology called Mobile Advanced Super View enabling wide viewing angles, TOUCH CRUISER pad, which is an interface similar to the touch pads on notebook PCs, Manga Book Reader, IrSimple & IrSS standards for easy wireless transfer of pictures to compatible printers, and HSDPA for high-speed data transfers of up to 3.6Mbps.

Phone Specs
Model:	SH905i
Carrier:	NTT DoCoMo
Maker:	Sharp
Price:	N/A
Form factor:	Clam/swivel
Color variations:	Black, White, Pink, Blue
Weight:	125 g
Dimensions:	112 X 48 X 16.9mm
Main display:	3 inch (480X854) Full Wide VGA (16,777,215 colors)
Talk time:	200 min
Standby time:	max 540 hours
Platform / OS:	Symbian
Memory:	memory
Memory card slot:	microSD/HC
GPS / Location:	Yes
Bluetooth:	No
Infrared:	Yes
USB:	N/A
Wi-Fi:	No
Camera:	3.2MP
Video calling:	Yes
One-seg TV:	Yes
Music player:	Yes (AAC/WMA/SD Audio)
Browser:	Full browser
FM radio:	No
Mobile Wallet:	Yes (DCMX)
QR-code:	Yes
Biometrics:	Yes (Writing recognition)

Source: Sharp press release

Related articles on Sharp's mobile phones:

• Sharp handsets do magic and spur mobile web usage in Japan
• Softbank Spring Collection: Sharp Internet Machine 922SH
• Sharp is still undisputed handset leader in Japan: 1Q07 data

NTT DoCoMo’s top ten selling phone models

GfK, a market research company, published ranks of top selling mobile phones with each operator in Japan during the last week of November. This post will cover NTT DoCoMo. As DoCoMo starts rolling 905 series phones, devices from the 904 series line-up occupied the top positions due to discounts and general popularity of one-seg phones. Fujitsu’s one-seg F904i model ranked first for the second week in a row followed with another one-seg model the 704i by Sharp (see table below for the rest).

NTT DoCoMo Top Ten
1 (1)	Fujitsu F904i
2 (3)	Sharp SH704i
3 (4)	Panasonic P904i
4 (2)	Sharp SH904i
5 (5)	Fujitsu Raku-Raku4 F883iES
6 (6)	Fujitsu Raku-Raku3 F882iES
7 (9)	NEC N704iμ
8 (8)	NEC N904i
9 (10)	Mitsubishi D904i
10 (7)	Sharp SH903iTV

Source: GfK via ITMedia

Google Japan intros new single portal for domestic mobile operators

Now mobile phone users of NTT DoCoMo’s iMode, KDDI au’s EZ Web, and Softbank’s Yahoo! Keitai data services have one uniform URL they should use to get to Google Mobile - google.jp. Google Japan redesigned the mobile search method by getting rid of radio buttons with Web, Mobile and Images search options, leaving it to just a simple universal search. Google also report they optimized the local search and display of maps on mobile handsets. While this announcement is a step ahead for Google Mobile in Japan, it looks like the Japan’s team has a lot of localization work to do when comparing the array of mobile services available in the U.S. with those few offered in Japan (see image above).

Source: Google Japan Blog

Celebrity hairstyle: use your mobile to see if it fits you

Japanese mobile phone users got a fun application I would also like to have on my cell phone. The application, dubbed as Hair Chen, allows you to select trendy hairstyles from a sample database and apply them to your own picture to see how you’d look with that new hairdo. You’ll find a lot of Japanese celebrities in that database as usually they are the trendsetter for hairstyles. For starters, the sample database will contain around 80 virtual wigs to try on, but eventually it will grow with the time.

The Hair Chen application is not offered as a standalone, but rather serves as a bait to lure users to the same-named portal that aggregates nationwide data about hair salons and related information. The portal relies on a subscription-based model to make a profit, charging JPY315 (USD2.67) a month. While KDD au users had this application at their disposal from 2003 DoCoMo users got access to it only recently. The application developer Rstream partnered with hair salon operator Taya to feed the portal with the relevant data.

Source: Source: Rstream (Japanese)

Mobile social network myMTV selects Japan for debut

Viacom decided to test mobile social networking waters in Japan with a bang - claiming to be the "first in the world to offer simultaneous video and page-browsing on mobile." I'm not sure how it works in reality but can suggest it splits the screen in two parts.

Among other perks users will be allowed to use artwork by Japanese designers to decorate their personal pages and provided with access to the feature programming from "MTV's library, such as Pimp My Ride, and Japanese productions such as Usavich."

"The service is ad-supported and free to consumers, and is available on all three of Japan's mobile operators, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank Mobile," according to C21Media.

Image recognition search engine fetches music results onto mobile screens

There is a one more way for Japanese mobile phone users to search for and buy ringtones and music. Bandai Networks just launched a new mobile phone service called “Search by Camera! ER Search” that allows cameraphone users to take a photo of a CD cover or poster and search for the information about that artist or band, using image recognition technology provided by US-based Evolution Robotics.

Evolution Robotics ViPR technology detects and recognizes visual patterns by applying specially developed algorithms to look-up an extensive database of candidate objects residing on a remote server. The object ID is then used to select the associated content to be sent back to the user’s cellular phone. Users can then click the link in the returned content to easily access a mobile site containing detailed product information or, if mobile commerce is available, purchase products directly from their phone without having to type in a product code.

Having partnered with music label company Label Mobile, Bandai Networks digitized more than 150 thousand of label’s CD covers, which cover the large part of the domestic market. The service is oriented at DoCoMo cameraphone users and available at no charge to them. To start using the service users need to download a Java application – iappli – that is compatible with DoCoMo’s handsets only at this moment.

Source: Bandai Networks

Google befriends with KDDI, plans global expansion from within Japan?

First Google powered KDDI au’s mobile search platform in July 2006, fetching mobile screen-optimized search results from KDDI’s own EZWeb service and conventional Internet. Now, it will offer the rebranded version of Gmail under the "au one mail" name. So, instead of @gmail.com the email address will look like @auone.jp. KDDI au users will get the service for free and be able to access it from both PCs and cell phones around from late September. Like Gmail, the service features familiar simple user interface and the mail box size is set to be 2GB.

Both KDDI au and Google are to benefit from this co-branding partnership as the former shows its users a new and friendlier Web 2.0 face and the latter penetrating into the walled gardens of mobile world and gaining mobile expertise. KDDI au’s strategy is in a striking contrast with DoCoMo’s protective build-it-yourself approach.

Mobile lessons learned by Google in Japan can help the company better compete on global arena. This was partially confirmed by Google’s Strategic partner development manager in Japan John Lagerling who said at Wireless Japan 2007 conference that Google wanted to develop mobile services in Japan and introduce them globally. With his previous business development experience at DoCoMo, working on i-mode international expansion strategy and mobile wallet projects, he seems to be determined to make it happen for Google. According to John Lagerling, Google’s global mobile strategy is built around three blocks: 1) Personalized search; 2) Cell phone-optimized mobile services; and 3) Partnerships with various industry players. Of course, each country’s specifics are taken into account when developing mobile strategy for one particular market.

John also provided interesting statistics about Internet usage in Japan, saying that among 85 million users, 16 million access Internet only from PCs and 19 million (1/4 of all Internet users) do it only from mobile phones, while 50 million don’t mind surfing the net from both PCs and cell phones.

Sources: Yahoo News and IT Media

i-mode loses its appeal?

DoCoMo's i-mode global coverage map is shrinking with more overseas carriers killing the service. Just recently Australia’s Telstra and the U.K. operator O2 said they would drop the offering. Russia’s vast territory surely makes i-mode global coverage map look great. In reality, only 7.2 million consumers use i-mode outside of Japan. While DoCoMo’s i-mode stronghold in Japan – more than 47 million i-mode subscribers on its own network – still gives the carrier leverage, it seems that i-mode business model is becoming irrelevant and outdated in the times of Web 2.0 trends expanding into the mobile world. With users becoming internet-savvy and mobile phones being shipped with full web browsers, DoCoMo’s i-mode collection of portals will lose their appeal to users. DoCoMo is sure feels the pressure and plans counter measures like DoCoMo 2.0 marketing campaign, an attempt to blend in with Web 2.0 crowd. Like an elephant in a china store? Well, it seems that they are catching up, not leading this time.

Fujitsu F704i is not afraid to plunge into water

Fujitsu's water-resistant F704i phone is scheduled to hit DoCoMo shops' shelves on July 20. This is a slight modification of the F703i model released in Spring. The main change is the inclusion of a global WCDMA/GSM support to bring piece of mind to Japanese users when they accidently drop their handsets into water abroad.

Phone Specs
Model:	F704i
Carrier:	NTT DoCoMo
Maker:	Fujitsu
Bands:	FOMA/WCDMA/GSM
Form factor:	clamshell
Color variations:	Magenta, White, Golden, Black
Weight:	109g
Dimensions:	100 x 48 x 17.9mm
Main display:	2.2inch, 262K color TFT LCD 240x320
Standby:	420 hours
Talk time:	145min
Platform / OS:	Symbian
Memory:	21.5MB (for music)
Memory card:	microSD
GPS / Location:	No
Bluetooth:	No
Infrared:	Yes
USB:	Yes
Wi-Fi:	No
Camera:	1.3MP (main)/ 1.1MP (sub)
Video calling:	Yes
TV tuner:	No
Music player:	Napster (WMA/AAC)
Browser:	Full Web
Water resistance:	IPX5/IPX7
Mobile Wallet:	Toruka, DCMX, FeliCa
Barcode reader:	JAN/QR/NW7/CODE39
Pust2Talk:	No

Japanese users think iPhone is fat

When asked what additional features they would like to see in iPhone if it was offered in Japan, majority of Japanese users (44.6%) pointed out to the lack of built-in TV tuner, according to online survey results published by research company iShare (1,341 respondents). The wish list for iPhone continues with the upgrade to 3G speeds (37.1%) followed with the inclusion of GPS (36.2%). Surprisingly, a lot of respondents (34.6%) think iPhone is not slim enough, while a rightful number of them want higher resolution camera (33.1%) and removable memory (33.1%).

DoCoMo is perceived as the least likeable carrier to offer iPhone in Japan (17.1%) among the three national cell phone operators, while SoftBank’s chances are the highest (53%) followed with KDDI au (19.6%).

Source: iShare (Japanese)

DoCoMo in talks with Apple to bring iPhone to Japan

When asked about iPhone at NTT DoCoMo’s shareholder meeting held on June 19, the company’s management confirmed that DoCoMo was interested in bringing iPhone to Japan and intended to have discussions with Steve Jobs about this possibility. However, DoCoMo is likely to face a competition from Softbank, third largest operator in Japan, who is rumored for a long time to carry iPhone on its network in Japan. Both operators run 3G networks based on WCDMA standard, meaning that the current 2G version of iPhone is not compatible with Japanese networks. It seems that it will take another year to have iPhone optimized for Japan’s market. The willingness with what Japanese operators are ready to embrace iPhone contradicts with their traditional approach to handset vendors when the game is played by operators’ rules. For the first time in Japan, operators may agree to bend these rules and accept Apple’s conditions such as to sell unsubsidized handset and pay a portion of service revenue to handset vendor. Judging by the size of market shares, the chances of DoCoMo to snatch iPhone are more promising than Softbank’s.

Source: ITmedia

Softbank last to hit 50% milestone with 3G subs in Japan

Having added 560,100 subscribers to its 3G service in April, Softbank finally passed a 50% 3G penetration milestone for its subscriber base. The leader in conversion cell phone users from 2G to 3G camps remains KDDI au, which has managed to get 97.9% of its total subscriber base to be equipped with 3G phones. DoCoMo so far persuaded only 69.1% of its customers to switch to 3G.

Japan’s mobile phone market: 2006 results

Japan finished 2006 with a 71.8% wireless penetration rate, which translates to 91.8 million people. Obviously, with the increase of the penetration rate, the net additions are slowing down with each year – 5.5m in 2005 versus 4.8m in 2006.

In 2006, the wireless market in Japan was dominated by DoCoMo with 51.1m users, trailed by KDDI with 25.4m of combined au and Tu-ka user bases, leaving Vodafone KK (now Softbank Mobile) on the third place with 15.2m customers.
The area, in which KDDI outperformed DoCoMo is ARPU, reaching JPY7,040 compared with DoCoMo’s JPY6,910. Vodafone traditionally finished in third place with JPY5,890.
Handset shipments have actually increased in 2006 hitting 48.7 million units compared with 44.8 million in the previous year, but less than 51 million handsets shipped in 2004.

DoCoMo targets home nursing businesses with 3G video phone

DoCoMo envisions the stable growth of businesses engaged in at-home nursing care due to the aging population in Japan and tries to address the emerging market’s needs by offering such devices as Kantan Video Calling terminal. The device is not supposed to be portable as it sits at home and connects people via video calls only (you can’t make just a simple voice call). For convenient operation, the terminal spots a touch screen and is shipped with remote control. The device is ideal for disabled people to connect with the outside world or for monitoring of family members or patients who need nursing care.

Phone Specs
Dimensions(HxWxD):	191mmX220X120
Weight:	2.7kg
Display:	Touch screen (7inch) WVGA LCD TFT (262K colors)
Camera:	CMOS wide angle lens, 1.3MP
Data cards:	CF FOMA (3G) cards P2403, P2402
Color variations:	White
USB:	USB2.0 (2 ports)
LAN:	RJ-45
VGA:	Analog RGB
Serial:	RS-232C
Make:	Tamura Corp.
Price:	JPY200,000

Nearly 40% of DoCoMo user base use mobile wallet phones

DoCoMo rolled out the first phones with built-in mobile payment chips in July 2004, gradually boosting the user base to present 20 million – a 38% share of DoCoMo’s 52 million wireless subscribers. The various usage scenarios for Osaifu Keitai, a Japanese name for the mobile wallet, have emerged during this period, including train commute ticketing service Mobile Suica, e-money payment systems QUICPay and Edy, mobile credit card iD, coupon service Toruca, different kinds of identification and point cards. During the same period, the number of POS accepting Osaifu Keitai payments has increased to 200,000 locations. And it seems that DoCoMo intends to continue its aggressive foray into financial services by adding new capabilities to the service and signing up new partners.

DoCoMo adds chic to Razr line-up by selling Dolce & Gabbana model

Japan is late to the Razr fest. Debuted in 2004, the Razr design is about to start feeling stale around the world. According to some analysts, phones based on the Razr design account for about 30% of Motorola's total handset volume. Razr fatigue, anyone? Apparently, not in Japan yet. The first phones based on Razr design – the M702iS and M702iG – were shipped in Japan in December last year. And DoCoMo just started accepting pre-orders for the M702iS based on Dolce & Gabbana design, asking 75,000 yen (around $642). Five Dolce & Gabbana stores in Tokyo (2), Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka will distribute the pre-ordered Dolce & Gabbana handsets starting March 15. In April, DoCoMo also plans to sell the limited amount of Dolce & Gabbana phones online.

State of the art: Fujitsu waterproof F703i handset

Engineers at Fujitsu worked three years to advance the water resistant technology in cellphones. The idea of waterproof handset is not new to Japanese market as Sony Ericsson was first to offer the SO902iWP handset to DoCoMo users last year while Casio shipped the G'zOne TYPE-R for KDDI au. However, while the predecessors of the F703i were rugged devices designed for the use in rogue conditions, Fujitsu made a waterproof handset that looks like a regular cellphone. The main target of the F703i is women who might use the phone in places where the water can easily get inside the phone and damage it. The F703i is graded to be IPX7 compatible (capable of being underwater for 30 minutes at 1 meter depth), which makes the phone suited for use in bath, shower or kitchen.

Besides the water resistant feature, the F703i spots quite a fancy look and employs a so called floating illumination with three LEDs placed across the front panel. Application-wise, the F703i has a built-in MP3 player compatible with Napster to Go music streaming service and FeliCa-based mobile-wallet. DoCoMo sells the F703i at JPY16,400 ($135).

Phone Specs:
Model	Fujitsu F703i
Carrier	NTT DoCoMo
Form factor	clamshell
Color variations	snow white, blossom pink, lamp black
Weight	109 g
Dimensions	48X100X18mm
Main display	Type: LCD (color TFT); Colors: 262,144; Size: QVGA 2.2inches (240X320)
Battery life	145min (talk); 80min (video call); 300-420 hours (standby)
Battery type	unknown
Platform / OS:	Symbian
Memory	unknown
Memory card slot	microSD
GPS / Location	No
Bluetooth	No
Infrared	Yes
USB	Yes
Wi-Fi	No
Camera	1.3MP (main); VGA (internal)
Video calling	Yes
One-seg TV	No
Music player	WMA/AAC compatible
WAP / Web browser	unknown
Push-To-Talk	No
Mobile Wallet	i-mode FeliCa
Barcode	JAN, QR, NW7, CODE39
Biometric authentication	unknown

Disruptive technologies and competition to undermine the hegemony of NTT DoCoMo

Financial Times reports (January 25, 2007) that “DoCoMo is forecasting a small drop in operating profit this fiscal year.” There are several directions from which the giant feels uneasiness. First comes the number portability that sparkled a price war initiated by Softbank (ex-Vodafone). It also became clear that another DoCoMo’s rival – KDDI au was the biggest winner so far from number portability. Number portability combined with Japan’s traditional fat handset subsidies, of about $300-$350 a piece, alone could affect the profitability. To continue the list of disruptions, FT lists:

• Arrival of fixed/mobile convergence (meaning more bundling);
• Small operators bringing in Skype-type services; and
• Further regulatory changes.

The question remains whether operators such as NTT DoCoMo accept their utility-like (dumb pipe) status or successfully fight off the trend with counter measures. So far, the indications are that they are going for a big fight.

After Walkman and Cybershot next comes Bravia – the SO903iTV handset

Marketing people at Sony Ericsson did it again – they assigned Sony’s well-known consumer electronics brand to a cell phone. As DoCoMo expands its handset line-up with ‘one-seg’ terrestrial digital TV broadcasting compatible devices, Sony Ericsson introduces the SO903iTV model that is being marketed under the Bravia brand – a name more known for Sony’s flat-screen TVs. To give Sony Ericsson a credit, the Bravia handset bears more than just a TV-associated brand name – the handset actually spots the newly developed mobile Bravia engine that enhances the picture quality of one-seg TV. The phone should start shipping in June 2007.

Source: DoCoMo
Related article: Walkman: old brand gets new life in mobile world

Maria Sharapova vs. Paris Hilton: who represents better Motorola?

It was a surprise for me to find out that Paris Hilton, not Maria Sharapova, was asked to attend the kick-off party for DoCoMo's M7o2iS handset a.k.a. Motorola Razr this December. Sure, both have a contract with Motorola to promote its products, but the choice of Paris Hilton after all that scandalous coverage in mass media raises some questions. Don't you think it might cast a shadow on DoCoMo and Motorola's image? Is it only me or, indeed, after seeing Paris Hilton holding Motorola you stop wanting to own the Razr? And, common, we all know Paris Hilton is an avid Sidekick user. Anyway, I think Maria is much more popular in Japan. And if you're wondering what model she holds, it is M100.

Motorola Razr finally sellin in Japan

Announced back in July, the M702iS model is last among DoCoMo’s 7-series summer line-up to make it to the shelves of mobile shops in Japan. Obviously, Motorola struggled to deliver the phone on time due to the customization requirements from DoCoMo. The slight modification of the M702iS model, the M702iG is still undergoing tweaking to satisfy DoCoMo’s taste and it is not clear when it will be put on shelves. The M702iS phone is offered at as low as Yen 17,850 with a new contract and at as high as Yen 31,500 for existing subscribers who are on contract for less than ten months, but more than for one month. It is available in three colors: Hot pink、Neo black、and Cool silver.

With the introduction of Razr phones, Motorola will try to enter the consumer market, as its only single phone model sold by DoCoMo in Japan before was the business-oriented M1000. Besides that, Motorola ships the M2501 HSDPA PC card, also aimed at enterprise users.