Nikkei Electronics Asia -- March 2010
Cover Story: The Smartphone War [Part1]
Smartphones Becoming Mere Commodities Worldwide

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Mar 1, 2010 00:12 Shinya Saeki, Tomohisa Takei

Japan led the world in rolling out new and more powerful functions for monbile telephones. It pioneered high-speed interconnect with mobile communication systems, adopting an increasing range of cutting-edge electronic components and diverse services to provide new functionality. The FOMA 905i series of mobile phones announced by NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in November 2007 came with just about everything inside. Within the industry, people referred to the high-level functionality and uniquely Japanese approach as a sort of "Galapagos of mobile phones," with new species diverging from global trends to serve local needs.

Today, though, mobile phones are evolving rapidly not only in Japan, but in the US, in China... in fact, all over the world!

The catalyst is the smartphone. With the release of the iPhone 3G by Apple Inc., many users in US made the switch to the 3rd-generation mobile communication system (3G). Smartphones running the Android software platform developed by Google Inc. are expected to further increase the number of 3G handset users. In China, mobile phone carrier China Mobile Communications Corp. has created the OPhone Android-based smartphone, helping accelerate the spread of 3G handsets in that nation. Smartphones are also expected to show up in quantity in the Japan market, which has pursued a separate evolutionary path until now.

The widespread adoption of smartphones will significantly change mobile phone design and the business itself. New manufacturers are entering the market, along with established handset manufacturers, and multi-function handsets of all types are becoming mere commodities around the globe. In short, the world has entered an era of unparalleled competition.