| Summary: | 碩士 === 淡江大學 === 日本研究所 === 90 === Beginning in 1998, the world economy has witnessed the collapse of the internet bubbles, which sent out a shockwave rippling through all sectors of the internet-related businesses and cast doubts on the future of the internet. Anxieties and concerns persist, leading many to flinch from any further development. Amidst the gloom, NTT DoCoMo launched the Mobile Internet Version i-mode Service in February 1999 and immediately enjoyed a success of well over 10,000,000 subscriptions one and half a year later. The number of subscribers keeps rising rapidly. As of April 2002, more than 32,000,000 people have subscribed to the value-added i-mode mobile service. The success story of the i-mode service represents a whole new experience for the development of the internet business.
In view of the success of the i-mode service and the actual benefits it has realized, this dissertation focuses on the case-study of NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode service and highlights the successful operating modes and the competitive strategies it seeks in becoming a de facto Standard. It also aims to provide not just reference for local telecommunication carriers for future development of mobile internet services, but also the success story of NTT DoCoMo as a model for further discussions.
This dissertation is divided into six chapters. Chapter One is the preface outlining the motive, objective, methodology, and scope for the entire research. Chapter Two defines and explains the de facto Standard: the cause, the competitive framework, processes, the strategies; and discusses how the de facto Standard is established to bring about benefits. Chapter Three describes the history of mobile communications in Japan and the birth and growth of NTT DoCoMo. Chapter Four presents a case-study on NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode and studies the business strategies, theory applications, and corporate strategic alliances; and seeks out the factors which contribute to its success and the repercussion effects that it brings along. Chapter Five describes the competing situation for de facto Standard for Third Generation (3G) mobile communication service providers in Japan, Europe, and the US. FOMA is taken as an example to elucidate the competitive advantages NTT DoCoMo has in the de facto Standard. Emphasis is made to explain for the reason that the 21st Century will transform from e-Business to m-Business. Chapter Six, the concluding chapter, summarizes the competitions in the de facto Standard and offers some suggestions for reference.
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