3G usage continues to rise in Japan

Recent research by In-Stat found that contactless payment, GPS, broadcast TV and related services were gaining traction in the Japanese mobile phone market. However, a good revenue-generating business case should be introduced in order for mobile TV phones to ship in bigger numbers. Other valuable bullet-points from the research are as follows:

• In 2006, 43.5 million 3G phones (92% of 47.8m) were sold in Japan.
• Camera, music player function, and above 2.4-inch screens with at least 240X320 resolution have become standard.
• 98 new 3G models were launched in the last 12 months in Japan

3G phone trends in more details:

• 98 3G phones were launched in Japan in fiscal year 2006.
• 68 were with 2.4 to 3.0-inch screens; 92 were with QVGA or higher resolution. The large displays are for multimedia, rich-content surfing, and multitasking on phones.
• Operators strived to generate revenue by providing large-size-attachment emailing and integrated mobile Internet-music player interfaces to push mobile data services based on camera and music functions.
• 49 phones were mobile wallet phones and 45 were GPS phones. The convenience and usefulness of mobile wallet payment and navigation services are gaining acceptance among customers and providing substantial business opportunities for operators, device makers, content providers, and others participating in the value system.
• 19 models supported One Seg mobile TV broadcasting in Japan. The limited models available are not due to the higher cost, but because of an unclear business model for operators to make significant revenue from the free-to-air TV broadcasting service.

Source: In-Stat