WW-157 -- Blackberry makes entry into Japanese market

J@pan Inc presents the Wireless Watch Newsletter:

W I R E L E S S W A T C H

Commentary on the Business of Wireless in Japan
=======================================================
Issue No. 157
Wednesday October 4, 2006
Tokyo

SUBSCRIBERS: 23,911 as of October 3, 2006

Subscribe for FREE:
http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/index.html?list=ww

CONTENTS
+ Viewpoint: Blackberry makes entry into Japanese market

===========================================================
Does your translator have 15 years' experience?
Professional translator Michael House does.
Michael House can take your Japanese documents and translate
them into clear, concise and accurate English.
With special expertise in the IT, business and insurance sectors,
Michael's 15 years' translating means you get top quality.
Why go through an agent when you can go direct?

Email Michael now for competitive rates and turnaround dates.
Email: macross at gol.com
===========================================================
ADVERTISING INFORMATION
To advertise in this newsletter, contact:
ads at japaninc.com
===========================================================

Blackberry makes entry into Japanese market

DoCoMo started selling the Blackberry 8707h in the Japanese
market on September 26. The device supports the 3G-(W-CDMA),
GSM- and GPRS-networks and is similar to the Blackberry 8707
sold outside Japan. DoCoMo initially targets foreign
companies with this Blackberry - the key board is a
QWERTY-type. Japanese language is only partly supported -
Japanese mail and web pages are viewable but it is not
possible to input Japanese. I-mode is not supported and
the device does not feature a camera either.

The Blackberry Enterprise Solution integrates with Microsoft
Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, and Novell GroupWise for secure
wireless access to e-mail and other corporate information -
the killer application that made the Blackberry so successful
in the US and Europe. The Blackberry comes at a monthly
rental fee of JPY 5,985 per handset without data.
The pake-hodai flat data rate plan does not apply.
Foreign companies will not bother about these fees but prices
should drop if DoCoMo wants to target the mass
business-to-employee market.

Why has the Blackberry make such a late entry into the Japanese
mobile market? Until recently Blackberry devices did not support
3G (W-CDMA) networks. Furthermore, DoCoMo has probably waited
until RIM's (Blackberry's manufacturer) patent issues were
settled.

[adsense:468x60:4:1]

Will the Blackberry become successful in Japan? E-mail is the
most widely used data service since the introduction of
browser phones in Japan in 1999. Unlike the western world,
Japanese mobile phones had an email client pre-installed
that allowed sending and receiving emails to any e-mail
address. PHS-provider Willcom is already successful with
the W-Zero - a PDA-type phone equipped with a key-board.
The W-Zero provides full Japanese language support and
flat data rates - a better proposition than DoCoMo's
Blackberry. Blackberry's success will mainly depend on
how much RIM is willing to invest in the Japanese market
- is it willing to design special phones that support
convenient and fast input of Japanese characters and
i-mode? Until that time, expect only expatriates trying
to impress the girls in Roppongi with their e-mail gadget
to use the Blackberry.
-- Arjen van Blokland
===========================================================

STAFF
Written by Arjen van Blokland; edited by the
J at pan Inc staff (editors at japaninc.com)

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER JAPAN-SPECIFIC NEWSLETTERS:
http://www.japaninc.com/subscribe_news.html

UNSUBSCRIBE
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, click here:
http://www.japaninc.com/unsubscribe_news.html

ADVERTISING INFORMATION
To advertise in this newsletter, contact:
ads at japaninc.com

GET THE MAGAZINE
Subscribe at:
http://www.japaninc.net/mag/subs.html

FEEDBACK AND PROBLEMS
We welcome your viewpoint:
editors at japaninc.com
(NB Please do not reply to this newsletter -- it's outgoing only,
so we won't get it!)

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS:
webmaster at japaninc.com

(C) Copyright 2006 Japan Inc Communications KK. All Rights Reserved.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.lincmedia.co.jp/pipermail/wirelesswatch/attachments/20061...