Mobile phone industry in Japan
Encyclopedia
The Japanese mobile phone industry is one of the most advanced in the world. According to statistics announced from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
, as of June 2009 there were 113.025 million mobile phones in use in Japan. This is a 4.4 percent increase over 2008, and is 85 percent of Japan's total population.
In Japanese
, are often referred to as simply or for short.
service operator.
(PDC). It now offers a 3G
service using W-CDMA
technology known as FOMA
. The company is operating a world band W-CDMA network at 2100 MHz. As of September 2010, the number of subscribers is 56 million.
mobile phone service: its second generation service, using CDMA technology, and 3G service, using CDMA2000
. Their operating bands are 800 MHz and 2100 MHz. As of September 2010, there are 32 million subscribers.
Softbank Mobile is a subsidiary of Softbank
. Softbank purchased Vodafone Japan at $15b in 2006. Softbank Mobile now offers 3G service using W-CDMA
technology at 2100 MHz. Softbank Mobile is also the exclusive service provider of Apple iPhone in Japan. As of September 2010, there are 23 million subscribers.
, is the most recent entrant into the 3G market. Beginning in 2005, it has provided 3G data and voice service coverage to 90% of the Japanese population through its own network and a roaming agreement with NTT DoCoMo. Their band is 1700 MHz which is not compatible with other area's W-CDMA phone. The primary service of EMOBILE is wireless Internet access. As of September 2010, there are 2.6 million subscribers.
and renamed to Willcom in 2004. The company is the only remaining provider of Personal Handy-phone System
(PHS) services. As of February 2010, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in the Tokyo District Court. The court appointed Ken Miyauchi, COO of Softbank Mobile as bankruptcy trustee of Willcom. As of September 2010, the number of subscribers is 3.8 million.
In addition, there are also other mobile communications companies and MVNOs, such as Disney Mobile
and Nihon Tsushin, that provide service to a limited area or entirely via another carrier's network.
Mobile telecommunications operating licenses are administered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
. In Japan, there have never been band license auction. Usually MIC issued operating licenses by just paper checking.
Collaboration by the various companies can be seen at the Yokosuka Research Park
, near NTT's Yokosuka R&D Center, where many manufacturers have research and development laboratories offices. An outdoor testing site is also located there.
Since the introduction of new regulation about unbundling service plan and handset price in 2008, Japanese handset market was shrinked. At peak time, 2007, total handset shipping recorded roughly 52M units. However,same number of 2009 was roughly 32M units. This caused serious recession for handset industry and consolidation of handset vendors because most of handset vendors relied on solely Japanese market.
Japan's PHS
technology has been exported to China, Taiwan
and other countries. NTT DoCoMo's i-mode
web technology had been used by Australia
's Telstra
, Russia
's Mobile TeleSystems
, UK's O2 and few other mobile service providers overseas. NTT has been one of the main contributors to the 3G W-CDMA standard. NTT DoCoMo collaborated with AT&T Mobility to set up a 3G-compatible mobile phone network in Hawaii
.
Japanese
Non-Japanese
Sanyo Electric
, although formerly an independent manufacturer of handsets, sold its handset business to Kyocera in 2008. Mitsubishi Electric
quit mobile phone business in Apr 2008. Nokia
discontinued development of mobile phones for Japanese market in 2009. DoCoMo M702iS which was released on December 2006, is the last Motorola
phone for Japan, but in 2011 Motorola returns to sell its handset for Japan.
Japanese manufacturers have had difficulty in attracting consumers in overseas markets to their phones. In 2009, out of all Japanese handset manufacturers, Sony Ericsson sold the most handsets worldwide (after non-Japanese Nokia, Samsung, LG Electronics and Motorola); domestically, Sharp sold one quarter of the Japanese market, followed by Fujitsu, Panasonic, NEC and Kyocera.
operating system
, but as the functions become more complex, they have begun to employ more generally used operating systems, such as Symbian OS, Embedded Linux
, Windows Mobile
and Android. Most handsets on the market today use one of either Symbian OS, REX OS, or Embedded Linux.
, katakana
, kanji
, and alphanumeric
characters. A character mode function allows the user to select from among these types of character input. Kanji characters are selected by first inputting hiragana, then the characters. Kana characters are laid out on the mobile phone keys in the 50 character table format: A-column characters on 1 key, Ka-column characters on the 2 key, etc.
The alphabetic character mode allows input of Roman characters; however, English-language word prediction (such as T9
) is rarely implemented in Japanese handsets. Support for other languages and character sets, such as French
, Russian
(Cyrillic
), and Chinese
(both traditional and simplified characters
), is not standard on handsets from domestic manufacturers.
and other email services have also introduced emoji that can be sent and received from mobile handsets as well as computers.
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
The ' or Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. The English name Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications was used prior to 2004...
, as of June 2009 there were 113.025 million mobile phones in use in Japan. This is a 4.4 percent increase over 2008, and is 85 percent of Japan's total population.
In Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, are often referred to as simply or for short.
History
- In 1979, Nippon Telegraph and TelephoneNippon Telegraph and Telephone, commonly known as NTT, is a Japanese telecommunications company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Ranked the 31st in Fortune Global 500, NTT is the largest telecommunications company in Asia, and the second-largest in the world in terms of revenue....
(NTT) launched the world's first first generation (1G1G1G refers to the first-generation of wireless telephone technology, mobile telecommunications. These are the analog telecommunications standards that were introduced in the 1980s and continued until being replaced by 2G digital telecommunications...
) mobile phone service in TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
as a car phoneCar phoneA car phone is a mobile phone device specifically designed for and fitted into an automobile.In the late 1970s and 1980s, the car phone was more popular than the regular mobile phone...
. - In 1985, NTT offered Japan's first mobile phone service, called the "Shoulder Phone."
- In 1988, Mobile Communication Group, which later was absorbed into KDDIKDDIis a Japanese telecommunications operator formed in October 2000 through the merger of DDI Corp., KDD Corp., and IDO Corp. It has its headquarters in the Garden Air Tower in Iidabashi, Chiyoda, Tokyo....
, started mobile phone service - In 1993, NTT DoCoMo started its first digital mobile phone service (2G2G2G is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja in 1991...
), using a Time division multiple accessDigital AMPSIS-54 and IS-136 are second-generation mobile phone systems, known as Digital AMPS . It was once prevalent throughout the Americas, particularly in the United States and Canada. D-AMPS is considered end-of-life, and existing networks have mostly been replaced by GSM/GPRS or CDMA2000...
(TDMA) variant called Personal Digital CellularPersonal Digital CellularPersonal Digital Cellular is a 2G mobile telecommunications standard developed and used exclusively in Japan.After a peak of nearly 80 million subscribers to PDC, it had 46 million subscribers in December 2005, and is slowly being phased out in favor of 3G technologies like W-CDMA and CDMA2000...
. - In 1994, Digital Phone Group and Tu-Ka Group, both of which later became SoftBank Mobile, started mobile phone service. In he same year, DDI Pocket, a subsidiary of KDDI, started PHSPersonal Handy-phone SystemThe Personal Handy-phone System , also marketed as the Personal Access System and commercially branded as Xiaolingtong in China, is a mobile network system operating in the 1880–1930 MHz frequency band, used mainly in Japan, China, Taiwan, and some other Asian countries and...
mobile phone service. - In 1999, NTT DoCoMo started i-modeI-modeNTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocol, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail and the packet-switched network that delivers the data...
Internet service. - In 2001, NTT DoCoMo premiered the world's first Third Generation mobile phone service3G3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
(3G), using W-CDMAW-CDMAW-CDMA , UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread is an air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks. It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service and the most-commonly used member of the UMTS family and sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS...
technology called FOMAFomaFoma may refer to:* FOMA , a Japanese mobile telecommunications service* Sergei Fomenko, nicknamed "Foma", Ukrainian musician...
. - In 2002, KDDI started 3G service in Okinawa, using CDMA2000CDMA2000CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B...
technology. In the same year, J-Phone started 3G service using W-CDMAW-CDMAW-CDMA , UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread is an air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks. It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service and the most-commonly used member of the UMTS family and sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS...
technology. - In 2003, J-Phone changed its name to Vodafone.
- In 2006, Vodafone Japan was purchased by SoftBankSoftBankis a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
and renamed to SoftBank Mobile. In the same year, MNP (Mobile Number Portablity) was introduced. - In 2007, Japanese regulator introduced new guideline for unbundling new handset price and service plan.
- In 2010, SoftBank Mobile will stop all non-3G3G3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
services, focusing on 3G service only.
Providers
There are four cellular service operators in Japan. Willcom is the last PHS Personal Handy-phone SystemPersonal Handy-phone System
The Personal Handy-phone System , also marketed as the Personal Access System and commercially branded as Xiaolingtong in China, is a mobile network system operating in the 1880–1930 MHz frequency band, used mainly in Japan, China, Taiwan, and some other Asian countries and...
service operator.
NTT DoCoMo
DoCoMo was spun off in 1991 from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), NTT DoCoMo first offered its second-generation service known as Personal Digital CellularPersonal Digital Cellular
Personal Digital Cellular is a 2G mobile telecommunications standard developed and used exclusively in Japan.After a peak of nearly 80 million subscribers to PDC, it had 46 million subscribers in December 2005, and is slowly being phased out in favor of 3G technologies like W-CDMA and CDMA2000...
(PDC). It now offers a 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
service using W-CDMA
W-CDMA
W-CDMA , UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread is an air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks. It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service and the most-commonly used member of the UMTS family and sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS...
technology known as FOMA
Foma
Foma may refer to:* FOMA , a Japanese mobile telecommunications service* Sergei Fomenko, nicknamed "Foma", Ukrainian musician...
. The company is operating a world band W-CDMA network at 2100 MHz. As of September 2010, the number of subscribers is 56 million.
KDDI
KDDI was formed by the merger of KDD (International phone service operator), DDI (nationwide CDMA operator except for Kanto and Tokai area), and IDO (CDMA operator for Kanto and Tokai area) in 2000. They offer the auAu (mobile phone operator)
, or au by KDDI, is a mobile phone brand in Japan marketed by KDDI Corporation in the main islands of Japan and Okinawa Cellular in Okinawa.-Naming:...
mobile phone service: its second generation service, using CDMA technology, and 3G service, using CDMA2000
CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B...
. Their operating bands are 800 MHz and 2100 MHz. As of September 2010, there are 32 million subscribers.
SoftBank Mobile
SoftBank
is a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
. Softbank purchased Vodafone Japan at $15b in 2006. Softbank Mobile now offers 3G service using W-CDMA
W-CDMA
W-CDMA , UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread is an air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks. It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service and the most-commonly used member of the UMTS family and sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS...
technology at 2100 MHz. Softbank Mobile is also the exclusive service provider of Apple iPhone in Japan. As of September 2010, there are 23 million subscribers.
EMOBILE
EMOBILE, a subsidiary of eAccessEAccess
is a Japanese telecommunication company that provides ADSL services to other ISPs. The current CEO of the company is Sachio Semmoto. The company was established on November 1, 1999....
, is the most recent entrant into the 3G market. Beginning in 2005, it has provided 3G data and voice service coverage to 90% of the Japanese population through its own network and a roaming agreement with NTT DoCoMo. Their band is 1700 MHz which is not compatible with other area's W-CDMA phone. The primary service of EMOBILE is wireless Internet access. As of September 2010, there are 2.6 million subscribers.
Willcom
DDI Pocket, a PHS subsidiary of DDI was acquired by Carlyle GroupCarlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is an American-based global asset management firm, specializing in private equity, based in Washington, D.C. The Carlyle Group operates in four business areas: corporate private equity, real assets, market strategies and fund-of-funds, through its AlpInvest subsidiary...
and renamed to Willcom in 2004. The company is the only remaining provider of Personal Handy-phone System
Personal Handy-phone System
The Personal Handy-phone System , also marketed as the Personal Access System and commercially branded as Xiaolingtong in China, is a mobile network system operating in the 1880–1930 MHz frequency band, used mainly in Japan, China, Taiwan, and some other Asian countries and...
(PHS) services. As of February 2010, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in the Tokyo District Court. The court appointed Ken Miyauchi, COO of Softbank Mobile as bankruptcy trustee of Willcom. As of September 2010, the number of subscribers is 3.8 million.
In addition, there are also other mobile communications companies and MVNOs, such as Disney Mobile
Disney Mobile
Disney Mobile is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator in the United States which launched in June 2006 and ceased operations on December 31, 2007, but now it's a Mobile Virtual Network Operator in Japan, re-opening on March 1, 2008. In the US, it operated on Sprint's CDMA network. Disney Mobile was...
and Nihon Tsushin, that provide service to a limited area or entirely via another carrier's network.
Industry
The Japanese mobile phone market is known for its extremely competitive and saturated market, which, combined with a complex regulatory environment, has led to growing consolidation among manufacturers and providers alike.Mobile telecommunications operating licenses are administered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
The ' or Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. The English name Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications was used prior to 2004...
. In Japan, there have never been band license auction. Usually MIC issued operating licenses by just paper checking.
Collaboration by the various companies can be seen at the Yokosuka Research Park
Yokosuka Research Park
Yokosuka Research Park is an area in Yokosuka City, Japan, where many of the wireless, mobile communications related companies have set up their research and development centers and joint testing facilities....
, near NTT's Yokosuka R&D Center, where many manufacturers have research and development laboratories offices. An outdoor testing site is also located there.
Since the introduction of new regulation about unbundling service plan and handset price in 2008, Japanese handset market was shrinked. At peak time, 2007, total handset shipping recorded roughly 52M units. However,same number of 2009 was roughly 32M units. This caused serious recession for handset industry and consolidation of handset vendors because most of handset vendors relied on solely Japanese market.
Japan's PHS
Personal Handy-phone System
The Personal Handy-phone System , also marketed as the Personal Access System and commercially branded as Xiaolingtong in China, is a mobile network system operating in the 1880–1930 MHz frequency band, used mainly in Japan, China, Taiwan, and some other Asian countries and...
technology has been exported to China, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and other countries. NTT DoCoMo's i-mode
I-mode
NTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocol, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail and the packet-switched network that delivers the data...
web technology had been used by Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's Telstra
Telstra
Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's Mobile TeleSystems
Mobile TeleSystems
MTS is the largest mobile operator in Russia and CIS with over 102,4 million subscribers as of 31 December 2009.Having started in the Moscow license zone in 1994, МТS in 1997 received licenses for further areas and began expansion, later entering other countries of the CIS...
, UK's O2 and few other mobile service providers overseas. NTT has been one of the main contributors to the 3G W-CDMA standard. NTT DoCoMo collaborated with AT&T Mobility to set up a 3G-compatible mobile phone network in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
Manufacturers
The following manufacturers currently market and sell handsets within Japan:Japanese
- Fujitsu-Toshiba
- KyoceraKyocerais a multinational manufacturer based in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. The company has diversified its founding technology in ceramic materials through internal development as well as strategic mergers and acquisitions...
- NEC-Casio
- PanasonicPanasonicPanasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
- SharpSharp Corporationis a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products. Headquartered in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan, Sharp employs more than 55,580 people worldwide as of June 2011. The company was founded in September 1912 and takes its name from one of its founder's first...
- Sony EricssonSony EricssonSony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones....
Non-Japanese
- Apple
- Research in MotionResearch In MotionResearch In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...
- HTC
- LG ElectronicsLG ElectronicsLG Electronics is a global electronics and telecommunications company headquartered in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea. The company operates its business through five divisions: mobile communications, home entertainment, home appliance, air conditioning and business solution...
- HuaweiHuaweiHuawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
- SamsungSamsungThe Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
- ZTEZTEZTE Corporation formerly Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation is a Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and systems company headquartered in Shenzhen, China...
- MotorolaMotorolaMotorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
Sanyo Electric
Sanyo
is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 230 Subsidiaries and Affiliates....
, although formerly an independent manufacturer of handsets, sold its handset business to Kyocera in 2008. Mitsubishi Electric
Mitsubishi Electric
is a multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group....
quit mobile phone business in Apr 2008. Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
discontinued development of mobile phones for Japanese market in 2009. DoCoMo M702iS which was released on December 2006, is the last Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
phone for Japan, but in 2011 Motorola returns to sell its handset for Japan.
Japanese manufacturers have had difficulty in attracting consumers in overseas markets to their phones. In 2009, out of all Japanese handset manufacturers, Sony Ericsson sold the most handsets worldwide (after non-Japanese Nokia, Samsung, LG Electronics and Motorola); domestically, Sharp sold one quarter of the Japanese market, followed by Fujitsu, Panasonic, NEC and Kyocera.
Operating system
Japan's mobile phones traditionally used the iTronITRON Project
The ITRON project is the first of several sub-architectures of the TRON Project.Originally undertaken in 1984, ITRON is a Japanese open standard for a real-time operating system initiated under guidance of Ken Sakamura. This project aims to standardize the RTOS and related specifications for...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
, but as the functions become more complex, they have begun to employ more generally used operating systems, such as Symbian OS, Embedded Linux
Embedded Linux
Embedded Linux is the use of Linux in embedded computer systems such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, media players, set-top boxes, and other consumer electronics devices, networking equipment, machine control, industrial automation, navigation equipment and medical instruments...
, Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
and Android. Most handsets on the market today use one of either Symbian OS, REX OS, or Embedded Linux.
Language input
Input on mobile phones is performed using hiraganaHiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
, katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
, kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
, and alphanumeric
Alphanumeric
Alphanumeric is a combination of alphabetic and numeric characters, and is used to describe the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits or a text constructed from this collection. There are either 36 or 62 alphanumeric characters. The alphanumeric character set consists of the numbers 0 to...
characters. A character mode function allows the user to select from among these types of character input. Kanji characters are selected by first inputting hiragana, then the characters. Kana characters are laid out on the mobile phone keys in the 50 character table format: A-column characters on 1 key, Ka-column characters on the 2 key, etc.
The alphabetic character mode allows input of Roman characters; however, English-language word prediction (such as T9
T9 (predictive text)
T9, which stands for Text on 9 keys, is a patented predictive text technology for mobile phones, originally developed by Tegic Communications, now part of Nuance Communications....
) is rarely implemented in Japanese handsets. Support for other languages and character sets, such as French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
(Cyrillic
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
), and Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
(both traditional and simplified characters
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
), is not standard on handsets from domestic manufacturers.
Other characteristics
The Japanese are known for their development of and to express emotions in email messages. A large number and variety of emoji and kaomoji are available on handsets. Foreign manufacturers (such as Apple), in order to ensure compatibility with Japanese-made handsets, have introduced emoji on their handsets around the world. GmailGmail
Gmail is a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail, as well via POP3 or IMAP protocols. Gmail was launched as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004 and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though...
and other email services have also introduced emoji that can be sent and received from mobile handsets as well as computers.
Unique business practices
- All handsets sold in Japan are "lockedSIM lockA SIM lock, simlock, network lock or subsidy lock is a capability built into GSM phones by mobile phone manufacturers. Network providers use this capability to restrict the use of these phones to specific countries and network providers...
" for use in Japan only, due to the demands of service providers. Likewise, providers have also refused to sell USIM cards by themselves without a handset or for a handset brought in from overseas, although NTT DoCoMo has recently has relaxed this business practice. As the Ministry of Internal Affairs and CommunicationsMinistry of Internal Affairs and CommunicationsThe ' or Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. The English name Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications was used prior to 2004...
' mobile business consultative committee advised in 2007, likelihood this locking practice will be lifted in 2011.
See also
- Mobile phoneMobile phoneA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
- Telecommunications in Japan
- Mobile phone industry in China
- Mobile phone industry in RussiaMobile phone industry in RussiaThe mobile phone industry in Russia has expanded rapidly to become one of the largest in the world.-History:In 1963, Russia's first mobile phone network using the car phone came into operation....
- Mobile phone industry in India
- Mobile phone industry in South KoreaMobile phone industry in South KoreaThe mobile phone industry in South Korea is described in this article.-History:* 1984, Korea Mobile Telemunications Service, Korea Telecom's subsidiary which later became SK Telecom, started its mobile communications service, using the car phone...
- Mobile phone industry in the United StatesMobile phone industry in the United StatesThe Mobile phone industry in the United States is covered in this article. Mobile phones are usually called "cell phones" in the United States.-History:* In 1983, Ameritech launched the first generation mobile phone service in Chicago....