5 - Smartphones and wireless services

Summary

The i-mode™ ecosystem brings together skills, creativity, and resources in a vast range of fields and industries, in everything from content creation to phone manufacturing and service provision … What role does DoCoMo play in the i-mode ecosystem? We are a player, not a dominant force. If we were, for example, a carnivore that devoured all the herbivores, or a herbivore that ate all the plant life, the ecosystem balance would be lost and we too would fall into ruin.

(Natsuno, 2003)

As the largest wireless carrier in Japan when the original mobile app store, i-mode, was introduced in 1999, NTT DoCoMo's description of itself as just another player in i-mode's ecosystem is a bit disingenuous. DoCoMo was undeniably the dominant force behind i-mode. It is true, however, that in creating a new mobile content and service platform, DoCoMo deliberately resisted devouring all the revenue in sight. The DoCoMo business model allowed i-mode content and application providers to keep an unprecedented 91 percent share of the application revenue generated by i-mode subscribers. In addition, DoCoMo provided direct billing to its subscribers for all i-mode content, relieving content partners of the need to handle financial transactions. These business decisions made the ecosystem attractive to very small participants as well as to partners with well-established brands. Compared to the terms offered to application developers and content partners by wireless carriers in the USA and Europe at that time, DoCoMo's wireless data strategy was structured to encourage and reward widespread partner participation and innovation.