Postcards from the InternetA lot of interesting things are happening in Japan's digital forest. While we are seeing a maturing of the PC market in Japan, there is little sign of that in the Internet segment. Yet - and I know I have been saying this for months - I still believe that Japan is on the verge of an explosion of Internet users. I predict that the number of users will surpass 10 million in 1998.
by Forest Linton WebTV Japan On October 2, WebTV - a Palo Alto-based company that enables Web browsing from an ordinary TV - announced the formation of a Japanese subsidiary. WebTV Japan plans to start domestic service by the end of this year. WebTV has been at the center of media attention for most of 1997, and was recently purchased by Microsoft for $425 million. WebTV cofounder Steve Perlman and Microsoft Japan chairman Sam Furukawa emceed a well-polished press conference in Tokyo that included an impromptu appearance by musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. I think the formation of WebTV Japan is great news. Japan may initially turn out to be a larger set-top box market than the US. PointCast Japan Eight months after announcing the formation of PointCast Japan, PointCast finally held another press conference to announce the start of its Japanese service. PointCast Japan has been launched with nine content providers up and running, including Asahi Newspaper, Jiji Agency, Reuters Japan, and Nikko Securities. If you're familiar with the English version of PointCast Network, you'll have little trouble using the Japanese version; you can download version 2.0 from their website I was most impressed with the weather information and neat satellite images of Japan. PointCast hasn't released any information on the number of advertisers who are supporting its Japanese service. Since advertising is the primary revenue source, the ability to attract advertising will be a key indicator of PointCast Japan's potential for success. Internet Explorer 4.0J On October 1, in a first for Microsoft, Internet Explorer Japanese version 4.0 (IE4.0J) was released simultaneously with the English version. Demand has been extremely high for IE4.0 worldwide, with over 2 million copies downloaded within the first three days. You can download the Japanese version of IE4.0 from Microsoft Japan's Website. A key feature of IE4.0 is Active Channels - content that is seemingly "pushed" to the desktop. The Japanese version "bundles" several local content providers on the desktop, such as Nikkei Newspaper, Mainichi Newspaper, Recruit, Disney Japan, Elle Japan, PointCast Japan, and MSN (Microsoft Network). Other content providers, including Asahi Newspaper, Yomiuri Newspaper, Nikkei BP, ASCII, Kadokawa, ZDNet Japan, and AOL Japan, are featured in a channel guide (a database listing). Online shopping According to a Newsbytes Pacifica article, the world's largest ad agency, Dentsu, has joined with Japanese media conglomerate Fujisankei Communications Group to open The Super Mall (http://www.supermall.or.jp). The mall is divided into two sections: a media zone (free content with advertising, and fee-based content) and a shopping zone (initially housing eight stores). With a media powerhouse like Dentsu involved, The Super Mall has a good chance of attracting the advertising dollars that it will need to stay alive. PC sales slowdown Japan's PC sales seem to have hit the brakes, according to an article in NEWS.COM (http://www.news.com/ News/Item/0,4,15292,00.html), a CNET website. Although PC sales are still growing, the percentages have dropped significantly, from the previous 20% to 30% year-on-year growth to under 10%. Japan's PC makers will most likely lower prices in response to this slowdown. Apple sinks deeper Apple's woes have been making news all summer long, but one shining star has always been Japan. The Japanese market has long been one of Apple's healthiest regions, with market share, sales, and profits not dropping like they have in most other regions. Until now! When Apple released its fiscal year fourth-quarter results, it revealed that sales in Japan had fallen 48% over the previous quarter. A lot of the decline can probably be attributed to the general slowdown in the Japanese PC market, but this spells Òbad newsÓ for Apple. Apple is also lowering prices, so a brisk holiday sales season may be able to get things back on track. Excite Japan On October 14, Excite announced the formation of Excite Japan. The new company will market Excite's Japanese-language search engine, http://jp.excite. com/, which was launched this past summer. Excite Japan is a joint venture between Excite and Itochu Corporation, a major trading company. Itochu Techno-Science Corporation and Dai Nippon Printing are also investors. Excite Japan is the third major US search service to come to Japan, following Yahoo and Infoseek. An Internet growth spurt? In an October interview with Reuters, the chief of Yahoo Japan predicted that the market for Internet services in Japan will take off within two years, and then grow at a pace similar to that in the US. According to Reuters, the fast growth in Japan's Internet service market so far has already enabled Yahoo Japan to become the youngest company ever to list its shares on Japan's stock market. To send Computing Japan's Internet watcher Forest Linton a virtual postcard of your own, address it to forest@gol.com.
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