I-Mode in 2000, the Nippon

I-Mode

In 2000, the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Company (NTT) targeted Japanese teens as the primary demographic group for DoCoMo's rich-featured product - the I-Mode phone. Beginning as a simple communications tool -- employing little more than simple communication functionality -- the phone now boasts phenomenal features, accessibility, and functionality. The market, too, has grown to envelop young professionals, middle-aged families, and elder retirees.

Figures from the year 2002 demonstrate the surge in interest, investment, and technical savvy of DoCoMo's customers. I-mode growth during the fiscal years 2000 through early 2002 estimates ~40 million users and the NTT group captured 62% of market share for wireless internet consumption. At one point, the company reported being so overwhelmed with orders and new user requirements, they were forced to temporarily suspend services.

Cited as a company with an 'Internet way of thinking' as opposed to a 'Telecom way of thinking', DoCoMo has invested in leading development technology to migrate from the initial 'simple' platform to one of rich features and capabilities - e.g., Java and HTML coding, MIDI for ringtone downloads, and the like. Internet technology and telecommunications technology are still in separate market arenas and NTT's business savvy is clearly demonstrated in their financial reports; fiscal year 2000-2001 saw a record profit of $3 billion and actualized revenues of $45 billion.

Pricing - while not the Americanized 'supersized' style of unlimited usage - is appealing to the Japanese consumer because charging is by the packet size; a small email costs considerably less than a longer dissertation.

In the Mobile Internet: How Japan dialed up and the West disconnected, Jeff Lee Funk (2001) espoused that DoCoMo - the Japanese word for 'everywhere' - is a modern-day ecosystem with circular, looping technologies and marketing strategies which feed into and nourish the growth in all others. Demonstrably, marketing to the younger demographic population proved to be the catalyst for 'winning over' the older members of Japanese society. While the i-mode is considered primarily an entertainment device -- video games, airline and concert tickets, and so on -- it is rapidly growing into a tool of value for all mobile users; bank account access and transfers, news, weather, navigational aids, and the like.

I-mode analysts report that subscribers continue to sign-up at the rate of approximately 1.3 million subscribers per month. Considering the comparatively low personal computer (PC) acceptance and use in Japan and high mobile phone permeation, wireless technology - when focused on the valuable and literal functionality and desired uses for target markets -- i-mode is technology ahead of its time.