Answering your door phone system from a cell phone

Meeting the needs of growing population of households with both spouses working (55% of all households in Japan) Panasonic developed a door phone system connected to mobile phones. The system delivers both audio and color video streams to mobile phone's screen whenever there is somebody ringing your bell door. Panasonic plans to start sales from June 2010. The price tag, including door phone system and mobile phone adapter will be set at JPY114,450.

Source: Panasonic

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

Japan mobile phone market contracts by 19% in 2Q09

Japanese handset vendors sold 2.3 million less mobile phones in 2Q2009 than in the same quarter last year. With 9.5 million unit sales this quarter became the seventh consecutive quarter with negative growth in Japan. On a brighter side, at least for Sharp, this is the 13th consecutive quarter for the vendor to retain top share. The hard times will likely continue in 2H09 for mobile vendors in Japan, the IDC press release states.

Source: IDC Japan

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

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

Mobile phone sales drop by 29% in Japan in 2008

According to MM Research Institute, the cellphone shipments decreased by 29.3% YoY in Japan in 2008, totaling in 35.8 million units. Sharp was leading the pack for four years consecutively, shipping over 8 million handsets last year. International players failed to make a big impact in 2008, grouped in the Other category where Apple iPhone and HTC Diamond were notoriously visible. The 2009 outlook doesn't look bright as the handset shipments are expected to drop by another 7.5% hitting the low of 33.2 million units.

Source: MM Research Institute via Keitai Watch

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

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

Survey: Japanese handset users’ wants and needs

I came across an interesting survey conducted by iSHARE. They asked users about their expectations toward iPhone and other next generation device features. The responses didn’t surprise and confirmed the industry trend – mobile phones to become as powerful and feature-rich as computers. First of all, survey respondents expect to have rich browsing experience and ability to download software applications without restriction from operators. When respondents were asked about whom they expect to deliver such features, three OEM leaders emerged. Sharp, Sony Ericsson and Panasonic, companies with strong consumer electronics brands, were named among first. It’s interesting that Nokia fared pretty well, bypassing several Japanese OEMs.

Source: iSHARE blogch.jp

Panasonic 822P at 8.9mm thick hits Softbank’s shelves

Panasonic made a name for excelling in production of ultra-thin mobile phones. It doesn’t matter if it is a clamshell or candy bar form factor, Panasonic will make them really thin. This time Softbank is shipping Panasonic’s 822P candy bar phone at only 8.9mm thick. Besides the ultra-thin appeal, Softbank praises the 822P for simple, elegant design and ability to put into this slim body the high-end specs, including 3G, 2MP camera with auto focus, microSD memory card slot, video recording feature, music player, Internet browser, Bluetooth radio and other.

Phone Specs
Model:	822P
Carrier:	Softbank
Maker:	Panasonic
Cellular radios:	GSM (900/1800/1900)/WCDMA
Form factor:	candy bar
Color variations:	Red, White, Black, Golden Pink
Weight:	96g
Dimensions:	51 X 127 X 8.9mm
Main display:	2.2inch (240 X 320) QVGA TFT, 260K colors
Talk time:	200min
Standby time:	400hrs
Platform / OS:	N/A
Memory:	37MB
Memory card slot:	microSD (up to 2GB)
GPS / Location:	Some Maps service
Bluetooth:	Yes (ver. 1.2)
Infrared:	Yes (IrMC 1.1)
USB:	N/A
Wi-Fi:	No
Camera:	2MP with auto focus
Video calling:	Yes
One-seg TV:	No
Music player:	Yes
Browser:	PC website viewing
FM radio:	No
Mobile Wallet:	No
Barcode:	Yes (QR-code)
Biometrics:	Face recognition

SoftBank'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 SoftBank. See table below for the top 10 sellers with SoftBank brand.

SoftBank Top Ten
1 (3)	Sharp 920SH
2 (1)	Sharp 911SH
3 (2)	Panasonic 705Px
4 (5)	Toshiba fanfan. 815T
5 (7)	Panasonic 810P
6 (6)	Sharp 910SH
7 (8)	Toshiba 911T
8 (10)	Toshiba 814T
9 (4)	Sharp Fullface 913SH
10 (11)	Sharp 812SH

Source: GfK via ITMedia

KDDI au'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 KDDI au. See table below for the top 10 sellers with au brand.

KDDI au Top Ten
1 (1)	Toshiba W53T
2 (2)	Casio Exilim W53CA
3 (3)	Sharp W52SH
4 (4)	Sanyo W52SA
5 (5)	Kyocera A5528K
6 (8)	Sony Ericsson W53S
7 (6)	Casio W52CA
8 (7)	Panasonic W52P
9 (9)	Toshiba W54T
10 (20)	Kyocera W53K

Source: GfK via ITMedia

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

Softbank launches Panasonic Mirror

Feature-wise Panasonic’s Mirror 821P handset for SoftBank would’ve had problems to differentiate itself from others if not for a couple of innovative design solutions. First of all, it is called Mirror for a reason as its front panel is polished to the level of being capable to reflect objects. Besides, if you look at the handset’s mirror panel at different angle it will change its color. Play of light if you wish. Another unusual but very useful solution is to place a clamshell open button into the hinge that will open the clamshell for you when pushed. It’s very convenient for one hand opening. However, other than that, it is a slim phone with quite a standard set of features, spotting 2MP camera with auto-focus and 10X digital zoom, 2.8 inch Wide QVGA screen and Full HTML browser.

Source: Nikkei (Japanese)

Phone Specs
Model:	Mirror 821P
Carrier:	SoftBank
Maker:	Panasonic
Price:	N/A
Form factor:	Clamshell
Color variations:	Black, White, Silver, Red, Purple
Weight:	113 g
Dimensions:	50 X 104 X 15.9 mm
Main display:	2.8 inch WQVGA TFT, 260K colors
Talk time:	200 min
Standby time:	400 hours
Platform / OS:	N/A
Memory:	37MB
Memory card slot:	microSD (up to 2GB)
GPS / Location:	No
Bluetooth:	Yes (Ver. 1.2)
Infrared:	Yes
USB:	Yes
Wi-Fi:	No
Camera:	2MP
Video calling:	Yes
One-seg TV:	No
Music player:	Yes
Browser:	Full HTML browser
FM radio:	No
Mobile Wallet:	No
QR-code:	Yes
Biometrics:	No

Sharp is still undisputed handset leader in Japan: 1Q07 data

Sharp continues to hold its dominant position in Japan’s handset market through four consecutive quarters, increasing its market share to 22.6% in 1Q07 from 21.2% in 4Q06, reports IDC. Strong sales of Raku-Raku series phones are worth mentioning among other 1Q07 highlights as they helped Fujitsu get in the top five handset vendors.

Overall, handset shipments increased by 3% from last year, reaching the five-year record of 14.39 million handsets. National carriers’ flourishing spring handset collections targeting at various segments with ultra-thin and easy-to-use models and improvements in service and pricing contributed to this rather unusual burst in handset sales.

Source: IDC Japan

Best selling phone in Tokyo area: Fujitsu F882iES

K-tai Watch routinely published a table of best-selling NTT DoCoMo's phones in Tokyo metropolitan area for the 10/5~10/11 time period. The king of the hill was the golden color FOMA Raku-Raku 3 phone also known as Fujitsu F882iES offered by NTT DoCoMo. What is interesting is that Raku-Raku series models target at older users by simplifying handset features and keeping "bells and whistles" away. For example, Raku-Raku phones spot bigger keys with easy-to-see numbers, the on-screen font size is also made larger, while menu is simplified for easy navigation. The F882iES also comes in pink and black, but the golden is this time favorite. During the last update it was third in the ranks and now it is on the top. I'll see how long it will hold to this sweet position. The F882iES was followed by two color variations of the same model by Panasonic: the P902i in silver and black. The fifth place was also occupied by the P902i - this time in white color variation. The white N701i by NEC was placed fourth.

Source: ITC Network via K-tai Watch

20-to-1: Japan's mobile vs. PC music downloads

Commenting on Apple-Softbank iTunes phone Business Week provides data that Japan's music downloads onto mobile handsets outstrip PC downloads at a 20-to-1 proportion. While there is a huge gap between mobile and PC music downloads, overall the mobile music downloads represent a small chunk of Japan's total music market:

Sales of digital music for cell phones accounted for around 5% of Japan's $4 billion music market last year, according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan. "There's a lot more room for growth in digital music downloads for cell phones," says Ichiro Michikoshi of BCN, a tech market research firm in Japan.

Business Week also says that iPod held a 51.9% music player market share in Japan as of April 2006, followed by Sony (15.2%) and Panasonic (7.1%) who also produce music phones. The move into the handset turf by Apple will seriously deteriorate the handset makers' attempts to grab a market share from Apple, while at the same time will provide Apple with the bargaining power to get much-desired contracts with domestic top labels.

On a carrier's side, the Apple-Softbank phone could provide a boost to Softbank-Vodafone's mobile music service, which is far behind the rivals. For example, KDDI au started offering its full song download service in 2004:

As of mid-January, AU had sold 5.9 million music-playing phones to customers who have bought more than 300 million tunes over the carrier's wireless network. Its LISMO and DuoMusic services let subscribers mix their collection of songs downloaded to cell phones and PCs. One of its handsets, made by Toshiba, has a 4-GB hard disk drive that stores 2,000 songs.

Gartner: 45 million handsets shipped in Japan in 2005

According to Gartner, Japanese carriers sold 11.7 million handsets in 4Q 2005, while the year 2005 total handset shipments reached 45 million terminals. The demand for music playback feature by youngsters drove the handset replacement purchases.

Among the top Japanese handset makers mentioned by Gartner were Sony Ericsson (5th place), Panasonic (8), NEC (9) and Sanyo (10). Apart from Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Sony and Swedish Ericsson, Japan’s domestic makers did not expand their market shares, failing to address the market needs or finding niche markets. The fragmentation of the domestic market also did not help improve the situation, because standalone Japanese makers lack the economies of scale to compete with the world leaders.

Source: Gartner press release (pdf, Japanese)

Prosolid vs. Razr V3: the thinnest phones compared

Here we have them, Panasonic Prosolid and Motorala Razr, the thinnest handsets in the world, released almost simultaneously (the Razr by Cingular in November 2004 and Prosolid by DoCoMo in December 2004), but so different in their fate. While the Razr rocked the world, becoming one of the best selling handset in many countries, the Prosolid went almost unnoticed, making few splashes. Why? Well, partially, I can admit that the Razr may have a cooler look, but the main reason of such different outcomes is in another area. It is simple - Panasonic lacks the marketing, sales and distribution muscle of Motorola. It is not the exclusive problem of Panasonic, but this is the issue all domestic handset makers in Japan should address. While possessing technical expertise and creativity, Japanese companies often fail to go internationally, because they don't have enough qualified personnel or experience in dealing with foreign operators.

Prosolid Specs:

• Form Factor: Clamshell
• Finish: Anodized Aluminum magnezium
• Internal Memory:
• Dimensions (h x w x d): 108 x 48 x 16.7 mm
• Size (cc):
• Weight: 98 g
• Internal Display: 2.2 inches, 132 x 176 pixel, up to 65,536 TFT Color
• External Display: 0.8 inches, 25 x 96 pixel

Razr V3 Specs:

• Form Factor: Clamshell
• Finish: Anodized Aluminum
• Internal Memory: 5MB
• Color: Silver
• Dimensions (h x w x d): 98 x 53 x 14 mm
• Size (cc): 65
• Weight: 97g
• Internal Display: 176 x 220 pixel, up to 260K TFT Color, with 9 Lines of Text
• External Display: 96 x 80 pixel, 4k CSN Color, 4 Lines of Text / Line of Icons