The World PC Expo '95 took place at Makuhari Messe September 27-29 and was
a smash. Nikkei BP, the main sponsor, expected that 80,000 would attend
the event; more than 157,000 showed up. All the major PC makers
prominently featured Internet-related products and services, and Nikkei
BP's Internet Plaza booth, where we did our presentations, was jammed three
days running.
Based on our interviews with a number of industry players and editorial
staff at five of Japan's largest newspapers and Internet-related magazine
publishers (Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Asahi, Impress, Softbank, and Nikkei BP),
the consensus in Tokyo seems to be that electronic commerce over the
Japanese language portion of the Internet will start to really take off in
spring of next year.
Supporters of this view cite the following events:
- Sega's announcement that it will release a video game player equipped
with an internal modem and an easy-to-use WWW browser (market researchers
say approximately 60% of all Japan's households already have video game
players).
- Plummeting Internet connectivity charges: GOL Japan now offers a full
year of unlimited-use IP service for about $350, while Bekkoame, another
leading provider, offers identical service for less than $300.
- Soaring PC sales: NEC's unit shipments were up 70% in the first fiscal
half (April thru September). The company expects to sell nearly three
million PCs in the full year through next March.
- Lower phone charges: NTT now offers home PC users unlimited local calls
between 11pm and 8am for a fixed rate of $10 per month (NTT's local call
charges are, in my opinion, the single biggest obstacle to Internet usage
in Japan).
- NTT's surprise announcement on September 29 that it will open its local
telephone grid to all carriers, including long distance new common carriers
(NCCs) and CATV providers. Local phone rates are bound to drop as a result.
And CATV-based local telephone service experiments will begin in Tokyo
before the end of the year.
Japan's Internet market is no instant gold mine, and plenty of challenges
lie ahead. But we find this rapid, positive change very exciting.
Tim Clark
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Marketing to Japan via the Internet" <a href="<a href="http://www.diyer.com/~kyc/">http://www.diyer.com/~kyc/</a>">http://www.diyer.com/~kyc/</a>
TK Associates International
2012 NW Lovejoy Street Portland, OR 97209
Tel. (503) 274-2360 Fax (503) 274-2676 E-mail: kyc@diyer.com
----
This week's sponsor:
Marketing to Women Online Conference &lt;<a href="<a href="http://www.kelseygroup.com/kelsey">http://www.kelseygroup.com/kelsey</a>">http://www.kelseygroup.com/kelsey</a>&gt;
Talk with Dave Taylor, TONIGHT! Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 6 pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern
over the Internet using GlobalStage/GlobalChat software. See
&lt;<a href="<a href="http://www.popco.com/hyper/internet-marketing/chat.html">http://www.popco.com/hyper/internet-marketing/chat.html</a>">http://www.popco.com/hyper/internet-marketing/chat.html</a>&gt; for details
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