Japan - Mobile Market - Overview & Statistics

Synopsis

Entering 2010 there were over 110 million mobile subscribers in Japan. Though the 2G mobile telephone sector in Japan has entered a declining market phase, the overall Japanese mobile market remains in a dynamic period of activity, especially given the evident popularity of 3G services. NTT DoCoMo offered the world’s first 3G mobile phone service in late 2001. The company has a dominant market share still benefitting from its monopoly status years before. However, in hot pursuit are KDDI and Softbank, the latter gaining the most subscriber net additions during 2009. Smaller operator eMobile has also made impressive strides and was aiming to double its subscriber base during 2010. This report examines one of the world’s top mobile markets, with around 105 million 3G subscribers going into 2010. Japan is one of the world leaders in deploying so-called 3.9G or Long-term Evolution (LTE) technology, the first networks of which were due to become commercially operational in late 2010. Forecasting on mobile subscribers is provided up to 2020 as well as mobile ARPU forecasts. There is an overview of Japanese mobile technologies including the older Personal Digital Cellular, Code Division Multiple Access, and Personal Handy Service. In addition, the report provides an update on mobile data and content services together with relevant statistics.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
  
• 2. Mobile communications market
  
  • 2.1 Background
    
  • 2.2 Statistical overview
    
  • 2.3 Market developments
    
  • 2.4 New entrants into the mobile market
    
  • 2.5 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)
    
  • 2.6 Differentiation efforts
    
• 3. Mobile technologies
  
  • 3.1 PDC
    
  • 3.2 CDMA
    
  • 3.3 PHS
    
  • 3.4 Third Generation (3G) mobile
    
  • 3.5 Fourth Generation (4G) mobile
    
  • 3.6 Japan: A key region for LTE development
    
  • 3.7 Mobile handset market
    
    • 3.7.1 iPhone
      
    • 3.7.2 BlackBerry
      
    • 3.7.3 Solar powered phones
      
• 4. Major mobile operators
  
• 5. Mobile services
  
  • 5.1 Prepaid cards
    
  • 5.2 Mobile Internet
    
    • 5.2.1 NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode
      
    • 5.2.2 KDDI’s EZweb
      
  • 5.3 Push-to-Talk (PTT)
    
• 6. Mobile content
  
  • 6.1 Global Positioning System (GPS)
    
  • 6.2 M-commerce/m-cash
    
  • 6.3 Mobile banking
    
  • 6.4 Mobile advertising
    
  • 6.5 Mobile TV and radio
    
  • 6.6 Mobile ringtone and music downloads
    
• 7. Mobile applications
  
  • 7.1 Earthquake alerts
    
  • 7.2 Personal trainer
    
  • 7.3 QR code readers
    
  • 7.4 Environmental sensors
    
• 8. Forecasting methodology
  
• 9. Related reports
  

• Table 1 – Mobile subscriber, annual change and penetration rate – 1995 - 2010; 2015 (e); 2020 (e)
• Table 2 – Mobile subscribers by system – November 2009
• Table 3 – Carrier share of mobile telephones and PHS – 2005 - 2009
• Table 4 – Market share of mobile operators in Japan – June 2009
• Table 5 – cdmaOne, CDMA2000 1x and WCDMA subscribers – 1999 - 2009
• Table 6 – PHS subscribers by carrier – 2004 - 2009
• Table 7 – PHS subscribers – 1995 - 2009
• Table 8 – 3G mobile subscribers by operator – November 2009
• Table 9 – Market share of 3G mobile operators in Japan – June 2009
• Table 10 – Japan 3G subscribers – 2004 – 2010; 2015; 2020
• Table 11 – Number of handsets sold – 2006 - 2009
• Table 12 – Mobile subscribers by operator and technology – November 2009
• Table 13 – Mobile subscribers, ARPU and churn by operator – 2004 - 2009
• Table 14 – Net additions by operator – 2006 - 2009
• Table 15 – Prepaid mobile subscribers – December 2008
• Table 16 – Mobile wireless Internet subscribers by providers – November 2009
• Table 17 – Mobile wireless Internet subscribers – 2000 - 2009
• Table 18 – ARPU for mobile business – 2001 - 2006; 2010 (e), 2015 (e), 2020 (e)

• Exhibit 1 – LTE roadmap in Japan – 2008 - 2012