US : E-wallet phones, GPS phones and related services are gaining traction today in the Japanese mobile phone market, reports In-Stat. Mobile TV phones are expected to gain favor as well, once there is a good revenue-generating business case, the high-tech market research firm says. A trend-setting market, Japan provides a model for how other markets may adopt new mobile phone features.

“In the advanced Japanese mobile phone market, the shipment of 3G phones exceeded 92% of 47.8 million phones sold in 2006,” says Allyn Hall, a Director with In-Stat. “The market is full of excitement as phones with brilliant displays, rich multimedia capabilities and various novel functions were introduced last year to gain customer acceptance and market share.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• In 2006, 43.5 million 3G phones were sold in Japan.
• Camera, music player function, and above 2.4-inch screens with at least 240*320 resolution have become standard.
• 98 new 3G models were launched in the last 12 months in Japan.

The research, “3G Mobile Handset Trends in Japan” (#IN0703679AW), covers the market for mobile phones in Japan. Getting to know the latest features of Japanese phones and how the business works is instructive in reaching for the same success in other markets. This research explores the key enablers of every novel function/service, why customers like them, and how likely other markets are to adopt them.

For more information on this research or to purchase it online, please visit: http://www.instat.com/catalog/wcatalogue.asp?id=300