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Japan's Mobile Internet Success Story: Facts, Myths and Implications

The paper investigates the evolution of the successful mobile internet service i‐mode in Japan, identifies the relevant explanatory factors, and provides implications for the further development of mobile data communications in Europe. In conclusion, the paper argues that there must be a balanced and efficient mix of industry coordination, service experimentation, and dynamic competition in order to provide a foundation for mobile data success in Europe.

Coordinating the early commercialization of general purpose technologies: The case of mobile data communications

Summary This paper argues that mobile data communications is a fairly typical case of a general purpose technology (GPT), since it (1) is used in a wide range of applications, (2) exhibits rapid and persistent performance improvements and (3) strong innovational complementarities with interrelated coordination problems. However, (4) diffusion has been slower than expected so far. The paper focuses on the early slow developments of the Swedish Mobitex system, the recent failure of WAP in Europe and contrasts it with the successful launch of Mobile Internet in Japan. As predicted by the literature, mobile data communications have (so far) fared better in Japan where a dominant player (NTT DoCoMo’s) internalized coordination. However, since applications are not known beforehand, market experimentation is also called for. If coord– ination can take place hrough standardized interfaces, then decentralized networks can have an advantage since such networks can produce a more rapid rate of experimentation. Thus, finding a balance between firm internal coordination and market mechanisms, possibly through standardization of platforms, seems to be the way forward for the industry.

Innovation system dynamics in the Swedish telecom sector

Purpose – To analyse the evolution of the Swedish telecommunications sector (1970‐2003), with a focus on barriers and drivers of innovative activity.Design/methodology/approach – Developing a functional approach to innovation systems analysis, where six basic interdependent functions need to be served for a new technology to be developed and diffused and for a supporting industry to evolve. The sector is divided into four major sub‐sectors: traditional fixed telecom; mobile telephony; fixed data communications (including internet); and mobile data communications (including mobile internet).Findings – Relate to two questions: first, how did it happen that Sweden developed a leading innovation system for mobile telephony but not for data communication; and second, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the innovation system for mobile data communications? Findings include that early developments mattered, innovative search direction is crucial as are the provision of incentives for innovative activity.Res...

Plastic promises: the disruptive potential of OLEDs and e‐paper for the European display industry

Purpose – The paper aims to explore two developing display technologies, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and e‐paper, with a view to assessing their potential to disrupt existing markets and thereby offer an opportunity for European firms to play a larger role in the Information and communication technologies (ICTs) sector.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an extensive study including literature review and detailed desk research on the technologies themselves, their potential application and market analysis. Selected interviews with industry representatives were also carried out, which further informed a detailed value chain analysis and assessment of the EU position in these technologies.Findings – OLEDs and e‐paper have the potential to disrupt current displays market and in so doing they may enable EU companies to enter at selected points in the value chain to compete with the Asian ICT industry.Originality/value – Although there is a huge literature on the technical aspects of ...

Developments for 4G European Policy

This paper addresses the potential need for European public policy actions in the area of mobile communications, in particular of developments towards 4th generation networks (4G). The paper is based on work conducted for the EC/JRC/IPTS/ESTO project “The Future of Mobile Technologies in EU: Assessing 4G Developments”. The paper first reviews developments of 3G and 4G technologies in Japan, Korea, China and the USA. It briefly addresses potential costs and benefits of competition in infrastructures. The paper states that initiatives in Europe for technologies beyond 3G tend to address research issues, while players in Asia and the USA are aiming at sales of 4G‐equipment supposed to start as soon as possible. In conclusion, nine options for policy makers are presented, such as to stimulate 2.5G and 3G data markets, to analyse actual spectrum use, to continue analysing approaches competing with UMTS, to estimate costs and benefits of new approaches to spectrum regulation, and to evaluate steps towards frequency allocation.

The Swedish Mobile Internet: A Study of Entrepreneurship during 1998-2005

This paper addresses entrepreneurship in the emerging Swedish mobile Internet industry. In this work, the mobile Internet is defined as a function. Entrepreneurship is defined as the creation of a new venture. The unique data set underlying this work consists of 249 ventures that were active in the mobile Internet industry during 1998-2004. The entry/exit pattern and their performance in 2000-2004 were studied along with VC involvement in this industry. On a population level, sales were growing and the number of employees was decreasing. Concerning profits, the population loses enormous amounts of money each year. Venture capital appears to have a rather negative impact on performance initially. However, the VC-backed ventures displayed strong performance improvements at the end of the investigated period.