Japanese cell phone market had been called "Galapagos" from outside Japan and foreign makers could not enter the market. It is because Japanese cell phone market was unique in terms of device preference as well as quasi internet web service and the market had developed separately from foreign countries. A good point was that Japanese makers could dominate the market and made system to make money for them, but a bad point was that Japanese makers were used to this unique market so they could not penetrate into foreign market where other cell phone makers already dominate. Because of that, once foreign makers can sell their cell phones well with new idea in the Japanese market, then Japanese makers can not do anything to beat them because they felt safe due to the fact that the market is unique and others can not enter. Regardless to say, Apple has been a game changer since they announced iphone.
Device type
Loot at a picture below, this was lineup of cell phone devices a few years ago. Almost all cell phones are wallet type. If you open a cell phone, you can see display at one side and key pad at the other side. It was very popular type of cell phone in Japan. At first when cell phone service started in Japan, many types of cell phones were available because makers themselves tried to see what type of cell phone sells well. Even for people, cell phone itself is a new devices, so people tried to determine which type of cell phone is preference in terms of usage. To my knowledge, many people did not like to use a type of a device which display is not protected by cover because people were afraid of a display being scratched when they carry it, although now its type is popular in current market of smartphone. That's why people liked wallet type of cell phone before.
Loot at a picture below, it's current cell phone lineup. A display is on front unlike the wallet type. Originally Japanese people hesitated to use this type of devices, but ironically many people use this type. I guess that it's because people compromise their device type preference in order to use a big screen instead to make its usage comfortable. Devices type changed totally since smart phone came out.
Internet usage
One of reasons that Japanese market was unique is that Japanese cell phone carriers were providing their own internet services due to slow cell phone data access. For example, one of carriers, NTT Docomo, opened a web service "i-mode" which was a small internet service space customized for slow mobile access. People could access internet world, but cell phone speed was slower that it is now, so i-mode is good enough. By using i-mode world, people could do shopping, book a travel tickets with limited internet speed. Now speed of mobile internet is high enough to access internet via cell phone customized browsers. So many people already moved to i-mode to real internet.
People in Japan used to clarify internet and mobile internet which is subset of internet. However, cell phone is almost small computer. With cell phone, you can do whatever you can do with laptop or desktop PC. One of my friend is apple freak, and he has ipod, iphone, Macbook air, Macbook pro, but he told me one time that he uses iphone more than his laptop to access internet even after he goes back home because he feels cumbersome to open laptop and wait its startup and he can do whatever he does every day. And internet speed is very fast,
Mobile Future
What's going to the future of cell phone ? Smart phone itself is easy to predict that it came as a extension of cell phone development. It's small computer, and everybody had hoped that a cell phone become like computer. Now it came, and with your smart phone you can do almost everything you can do with your laptop, although a laptop usually does not implement GPS functionality. It is easy to imagine that smart phone develops in terms of data speed and software improvement in order to make it more useful. So what's come next ? It's definitely going to get out of an idea that cell phone is a small device of laptop with cell phone access. One idea that now many people discuss is called "Internet of things ", IOT in short. This idea is not necessary for cell phone development, but general technology development. The idea is that any devised can be connected via network by sensor network or direct internet access. A smart phone can play important role in IOT.
Here is a example.
Many people measure their weigh on the scale every day. Many people would hope to put your day by day data into your phone seamlessly via network in order to monitor your weight. It could be possible via direct bluetooth connection between your smart phone and the scale or via internet connection indirectly.
Within a few years later, it could be possible. Technically speaking, it's would be possible even now, but human being does not catch up its technology usage.
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