Japanese Phones Overseas
The Japanese are known for their love of novel and highly advanced technological devices. Anyone who has ever seen a Japanese mobile phone can acknowledge the advancement of their mobile industry. To the Japanese a mobile phone is not just a phone; it is a social network and an urban communication tool. More than 80% of the Japanese population is estimated to be owner of a mobile phone. The question that is on everyone’s mind is why they have not launched their phones abroad, since the Japanese mobile industry has progressed much faster than the rest of the world. However, because of this, the Japanese mobile industry suffers from the ‘Galapagos syndrome’ i.e. the mobile industry in Japan has evolved so heavily that it is so diverse from the rest of the world that it is too complex to survive abroad. It is important to understand that the advancement of Japan’s mobile industry has followed the advancement of the mobile network infrastructure. Will foreign consumers ever be able to access the Japanese mobile industry and purchase a piece of Japanese craftsmanship? The current trends of the Japanese mobile industry seem to be indicating high possibilities of this.
On March 11th, DOCOMO announced a press release stating that it is now possible to have the SIM-lock capability removed from any 
wireless device marketed after April 1st, 2011. NNT DOCOMO is one of the world’s leading mobile operators, and currently serves more than 57 million Japanese. The decision reflects an increase in consumers who want to use unlocked wireless devices with other mobile operators overseas. This has been a long time coming; however there are still limitations to this new service. Some of the issues that might occur are a failure to operate with certain non-DOCOMO SIM cards despite SIM-lock removal, furthermore certain non-unlocked devices may not operate with a DOCOMO SIM-card. This poses problems for foreigners who want to access the huge mobile phone market in Japan as they may experience difficulties as well as the Japanese seeking to use Western phones with their Japanese DOCOMO phones. These limitations hinder the movement initiated by DOCOMO, but one can only hope that the other big Japanese mobile operators; Softbank and AU, will follow in their footsteps in the future. Unless DOCOMO manages to fix these issues, it is unlikely they will do so. It seems as for the time being, foreign consumers will still be ‘limited’ to Western mobile phones, and network infrastructure. It is, however, important to recognize the step forward DOCOMO is taking by acknowledging the need and growing demand for SIM-unlocking. One can only hope that they manage to fix these limitations and open the Japanese mobile industry to foreigners too.
