i-mode Strategy

Since its introduction in February 1999 i-mode has become the world's largest wireless Internet service with more than 35 million subscribers. Its mobile computing service enables users to access telephone banking, make airline reservations, conduct stock transactions, send and receive e-mail, play games, access weather reports and have access to the Internet. It can offer a wide range of websites from internationally known companies such as CNN down to specialised local information.

Widely acknowledged as the founder of i-mode, Takeshi Natsuno discusses the success story of i-mode to date by providing a behind-the-scenes look at the management concepts applied while formulating the i-mode strategy. This stimulating volume provides a hands-on look at how he managed to effectively introduce the Internet way of thinking rather than the telecoms way of thinking in order to implement the i-mode service. He explains his strategy on success, concepts involved, practice, alliances and effects and uses his wealth of experience to predict future projections.

Written by the most highly respected expert in the field, i-mode Strategy is an absolute must for everyone wanting to know more about NTT DoCoMo's sustainable business model and i-mode strategy.

Contents

• IT Businesses Grow Far More than Expected or Do Not Grow at All .
• i-mode: Born of a Sense of Crisis.
• Evolution of a Text-Based e-Mail Culture.
• Beyond Talk .
• New Services Emerge.
• A Business Model the Wired Internet Cannot Support.
• All Eyes on DoCoMo

• Why has Our Success in the IT Business been so Overwhelming?
• Differences in Platform are Meaningless.
• Why is the Win so Overwhelming?
• Life Today: Complex Systems.

• Most People are Conservative; They Reject What Seems too New.
• DoCoMo's Role: Two Points Only.
• Sharing the Revenues Matters.
• Keep Service Providers Motivated.
• What is Internet-Style Marketing?
• Finding i-Mode Champions.

• Win-Win Relationships.
• Different Industries, Different Types of Alliances.
• Alliances with Broadcasters.
• Seamless Links between Mobile and Fixed-Line Networks.
• Future Plans Call for Adding PC-Internet Users.
• Point & Mobile Strategy and CVS Alliances.
• Printing: Our Next Project.
• Alliances to Strengthen Electronic Settlement.

• A Team of Individuals Working with the Same Ideas, Hand-in-Hand, is Stronger than One Following a Single Boss.
• The Information Convenience Store and Gemlike Specialty Sites.
• More Corporate Subscribers than we had Expected.
• Motorcycle Couriers and Exit Interviews.
• Self-Organization in Off-the-Shelf Software.
• Another Effect of Adopting HTML.
• A Fast Conversion from a Telecom to an Internet Company.
• An Organization in which Each Person Moves is Far More Powerful than an Organization Made to Move.
• Accelerated Mobile Phone Evolution.
• Like the Auto Industry in the 1980s.
• The Media Rush.
• Word of Mouth: Self-Organization among Individuals.

• Emergence and Self-Organization on a Global Scale Gives Rise to Greater Positive Feedback.
• The IMT-2000 Age is Drawing Near.
• 3G Marketing: "First, the Applications".
• Seconds of Real Enjoyment.
• Striking a Balance between Subscribers and Service Providers.
• e-money from Mobile Phones.
• Alliances with Home Appliance Manufacturers: Another Possibility.
• For Export: Our Business Model.