DoCoMo wants to cripple its own phones to help Japanese handset makers?

Posted by Dusan on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 9:11 am under DoCoMo

If you're like me, you're always eagerly waiting for the new product announcements coming from the leading Japanese mobile operators. They have the best phones in the world and it's unfortunate that we don't see many of those devices hitting markets outside of Japan.

However, the advanced functionalities of Japanese phones are also an obstacle to the domestic handset makers. Instead of creating a single, universal platform for the whole world, they make two versions - an advanced one for the domestic market and a simple one for the rest of the world. Two versions involve additional costs, and it's getting harder and harder for companies like Panasonic, Fujitsu and Sharp to compete in the global handset market.

Enter DoCoMo. The leading mobile operator in the "Land of the rising Sun" wants to remove some of the functions from the handsets they sell to prepare itself for its global plans, and help handset makers along the way. Things like i-mode, Internet connection services, and an integrated circuit card service that enables mobile phones to be used for electronic payments (Felica) may not be found in some future phones wearing the DoCoMo mark. Moreover, these "crippled" phones may actually be introduced to the Japanese market and not just other Asian markets where DoCoMo has its interests. Needless to say, other Japanese carriers, KDDI and SoftBank, may follow the suit… The world is falling apart, I'm telling ya'.