Japan plans to market the wallet phone overseas
By Alisa Zykova, Tuesday 19 August 2008 at 20:08 :: World Digital Media Trends :: #2134 :: rss
“Cutting edge” mobile technology in Japan seems to generally remain only in the Japanese market, but the Japanese government plans to boost the market and expand it abroad by giving it an “aggressive push,” the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Japan is hoping to export the FeliCa wallet phone, released four years ago and currently a standard feature in the majority of Japanese handsets. FeliCa is a miniscule chip that is embedded into the phone, replacing smart cards used for payments with a mobile phone.
Masayuki Ito, an official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, said that Japan’s mobile technology has a “Galapagos” effect, making the industry very “domestic-specific.”
It is normal in Japan to have rapid Web access, to view and record TV broadcasts and pay with your mobile phone, according to the Washington Post.
The success of mobile phone payments in the country may be a result of decreased credit card use and the popularity of vending machines and convenience stores, the Washington Post reported.
Carriers and manufacturers are sure to be enthusiastic about this move, since the Japanese mobile phone market is slowing, due to the saturated market. Japanese carriers have decreased phone subsidies in order to have lower prices and improved service. Consumers, meanwhile, may have gotten weary of facing “more complex technology.”
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