Goodbye I-mode, Hello FeliCa

i-mode LogoI-mode — currently taking a lot of the world by storm thanks to DoCoMo’s recent strategy of licensing out the technology — is past its prime, according to this article…”DoCoMo’s whole service focus now is actually on transactions and not on content”.
It’s an interesting point of view, not least because many other carriers are betting on i-mode to cushion their falling ARPUs (average revenue per user). Of course, the article says its likely to do that, pointing out that i-mode counted for 26% of DoCoMo’s ARPU for the second quarter 2005, which equates to about $11 billion. “While the actual amount of ARPU from i-mode (2G and 3G) is down about 7%, the decline is consistent with the overall drop in revenue per user…ARPU from i-mode is declining at a steady pace. For example, 2G i-mode users spent about 2,000 yen ($18) in the second quarter of 2004. A year later, they spent 1,550 yen, or 23% less. DoCoMo’s 3G business is faring significantly better, registering much lower ARPU erosion, but erosion nevertheless.”
The article claims DoCoMo now regards FeliCa, its payment service, as the engine for growth: “In less than a year since its launch in August 2004, over five million FeliCa-enabled users have signed up…Between February and April, the number of FeliCa transactions doubled from 320,000 to 690,000 and the trend is likely to accelerate”, and suggestions are made that the telco may move into offering credit services.
DoCoMo hasn’t abandoned i-mode of course, last month it released i-channel, a system designed to promote mobile data usage by displaying available content on the phones screensaver in a ticker system.
Related stories:
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Web Giants Aim For Japanese Mobile Market
O2 UK’s i-Mode Rev Share: 86 Percent

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