Market for virtual goods poised for growth

When a 300-pound gorilla like Facebook enters the niche market it turns into mass market. According to Business Week, Facebook is testing its internal payment system to take control over the in-game purchases of virtual goods like clothing for avatars or tractor for your farm. If early success of Japanese social networks implementing virtual sales is any indicator, then we are witnessing a shift from an advertising-supported model to a more balanced revenue model for social networks. While only 1% to 4% of people currently playing on social networks spend money for virtual goods the trend may accelerate with Facebook promoting the new capability to its 400 million user base. With the planned 30% cut of sales of virtual game props Facebook might add up to $500 million to its coffers, according to
ThinkEquity cited in Business Week article. ThinkEquity predicts the sales of virtual goods to almost double this year to $1.6 billion in the US and this number could quadruple to $3.6 billion by 2012. We should learn more from the experience of Japanese social networks in getting revenues from the sales of virtual goods.

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First phone with DivX comes to Japan, still can't do HD

It was reported (via Keitai Watch) that Samsung's smartphone SC-01B will be the first mobile phone in Japan featuring video codec DivX. This opens up the way for the video content from PC and web to be added to mobiles. Although, first end-users will have to do some conversion on PC using free DivX Converter for Mobile. After conversion, videos can be viewed on mobiles in SD quality. Expect more DivX phones to appear in Japan soon.
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Taiwan's Inventec blends in Japanese mobile phone market

It was reported that Taiwan's Inventec Appliances would ship the H31IA handset bound for eMobile in Japan. The H31A is a simple voice-centric clamshell with an obvious "Japanese" design footprint. The move by eMobile to sell Inventec's product is undoubtedly driven by the price factor. But another interesting thing is that Inventec did a good homework in tailoring the product to meet the tastes of Japanese users. Judging by the looks, it is hard to tell whether this phone is manufactured by a foreign maker or Japanese one. This should be a warning sign for the domestic mobile phone manufacturers as foreign players start beating them not only in competitive pricing but in blending in among them. It seems that the low range of the market is destined to be infiltrated with low-priced foreign brands untraceable of foreign design DNA.

Phone Specs
Model:	H31IA
Carrier:	eMobile
Maker:	Inventec Appliances
GSM bands:	900/1800/1900MHz
HSPA/WCDMA:	1.7/2.1GHz
Dimensions:	99 X 50 X 16.1 mm
Weight:	110g
Display:	2.4inch (240x320) TFT LCD
Camera:	2MP CMOS
Bluetooth:	2.1+EDR
Memory card slot:	microSDHC up to 16GB
USB:	micro USB

Source: Keitai Watch