TOKYO-- At first glance, Japanese cellphones are young people's favorites, with elegant design and quick access to the Internet. However, despite years of competition in overseas markets, Japan's cellphone makers have little presence beyond the country's shores. The only Japanese cellphone maker with any meaningful global share is Sony Ericsson, and that company is a London-based joint venture between a Japanese electronics maker and a Swedish telecommunications firm. And Sony Ericsson has been hit by big losses. Its market share was just 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009, behind Nokia of Finland, Samsung Electronics and LG of South Korea, and Motorola of Illinois. This year, Mr Natsuno, who developed a popular wireless Internet service called i-Mode, invited some of the best minds in the field to debate how Japanese cellphones could go global. "The most amazing thing about Japan is that even the average person out there will have a very advanced phone, "said Mr Natsuno. Japan has 100 million users of advanced third-generation smart phones, twice the number of the United States, a much larger market. Many Japanese rely on their phones, not a PC, for Internet access. Indeed, Japanese cellphone makers thought they had positioned themselves to dominate the age of digital data. But they were a little too clever. In the 1990s, they set a standard for the second-generation network that was refused everywhere else. Then Japan quickly adopted a third-generation standard in 2001. However, it made Japanese phones too advanced for most markets. Several Japanese companies are now considering a push into overseas markets, including NEC. Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and Fujitsu are said to be planning similar moves. "Japanese cellphone makers need to either look overseas, or exit the business", said Kenshi Tazaki, a managing vice president at the consulting firm Gartner Japan. Why are Japanese cellphone makers a little too clever?
Because their technical standards are too advanced to be accepted overseas. Because they only produce advanced cellphones. Because they used the second-generation network earlier than others. Because their phones are more advanced than PCs.