i-mode Brand Shown the Exit Door

[Mulboyne]

I'm way off keeping up with telecom tech news but I was curious to see this
DoCoMo Will Drop i-mode in Japan

In Europe, the i-mode brand is a service, and a harbinger of the post-PC era. DoCoMo and the licensees have a number of reasons to keep the brand alive outside of Japan, not the least of which is DoCoMo wants some global brand recognition. By the time DoCoMo puts the i-mode brand to bed in Japan (it's hoping that happens in 2006), the West may finally get the post-PC internet as well, but carriers that have licensed it will probably still keep using the name -- DoCoMo may not give them a choice.

The Nikkei reported this on Wednesday which usually means the news has been common currency in the industry for a while.
Clearly technology moves on but I'm interested in how DoCoMo is treating the brand. It doesn't seem to make sense to invest in brand equity overseas if you are giving it up in your home base. Does i-mode seem old-fashioned now in Japan? DoCoMo used to say they planned to use the brand for whatever technology happened to be current.

[Caustic Saint]

Does i-mode seem old-fashioned now in Japan?

Hmmm....now who would best be able to answer that question....?

[Taro Toporific]

... Does i-mode seem old-fashioned now in Japan? DoCoMo used to say they planned to use the brand for whatever technology happened to be current.

AU by KDDI is eating DoCoMo alive.... but WTF, no iMode?!
Strange. I just finished DoMoMo manual(365 page manual weighs 5 times the foma keitai) and come to think of it the manual said "foma nani nani" this and "foma nani nani' that throught with barely a mention of iMode. Hmmmm.

[GomiGirl]

Does i-mode seem old-fashioned now in Japan?

Hmmm....now who would best be able to answer that question....?

Now I think that would be ME.

"i-mode" is now often used as a generic term for official and often paid mobile content delivered via a mobile phone handset and served to end users from the content providers but billed through the walled garden of the telecos.

Other carriers have their own brands, Vodafone live! and EZWeb for example but really the word i-mode is used more frequently. I wonder if Oxford Dictionaries will include it in the next printing.

I could comment more on the article but am a bit busy today so give me a shout later when I have had a chance to answer fully.

[Taro Toporific]

... Does i-mode seem old-fashioned now in Japan? DoCoMo used to say they planned to use the brand for whatever technology happened to be current.

AU by KDDI is eating DoCoMo alive.... but WTF, no iMode?!

FG member "VideoLink" covers the-real-story in his magazine Wirelesswatch....

22 July 2004
The Feature has "sort of" come clean, admitting that the original story that DoCoMo was going to "drop i-mode" was utter rubbish. Of course, we smelt a rat as soon as the story, written by someone poorly translating a Japanese source, flashed around tech pages...

UPDATE: We asked for clarification from DoCoMo PR and will set the record straight. "There is definitely no plan to end the i-mode brand in Japan," according to the company's Masanori Goto Saturday July 24 at 16:00 JST.

http://www.wirelesswatch.jp//modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=827

[Video-Link Japan]

FG member "VideoLink" covers the-real-story in his magazine Wirelesswatch....

22 July 2004
The Feature has "sort of" come clean, admitting that the original story that DoCoMo was going to "drop i-mode" was utter rubbish. Of course, we smelt a rat as soon as the story, written by someone poorly translating a Japanese source, flashed around tech pages...
http://www.wirelesswatch.jp/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=827

UPDATE: We asked for clarification from DoCoMo PR and will set the record straight. "There is definitely no plan to end the i-mode brand in Japan," according to the company's Masanori Goto Saturday July 24 at 16:00 JST.

Taro: thanks for noticing..
Needless to say the PR folks I talked to on Saturday were just as surprised as I was about that 'news'.. LOL. As we said (pasted below) looks like a classic lost in translation mistake by an overseas journo. but great title (if it were true) and its still getting picked up by a few more tech. sites even still today..!!!

DoCoMo NOT to Drop i-mode in Japan
This story sounds a little fishy to us, since the reference to a Nikkei Shimbun story came from Total Telecom (subscription) via Techdirt we've done some quick fact checks and seems that perhaps its a translation issue and/or a mis-understanding of terms."While it is true that DoCoMo is beginning to push migration of 2G (PDC) users to their 3G (W-CDMA) network, that has nothing to do with the i-mode service itself. Most telling is that NE AsiaBP who run the english side of Nikkei have no mention of what would be perhaps one of the most significant stories coming out of Tokyo this month.

[color=darkblue]I am curious about this comment from you though]

AU by KDDI is eating DoCoMo alive.... but WTF, no iMode?!
Strange. I just finished DoMoMo manual(365 page manual weighs 5 times the foma keitai) and come to think of it the manual said "foma nani nani" this and "foma nani nani' that throught with barely a mention of iMode. Hmmmm.

[Taro Toporific]

[color=darkblue]I am curious about this comment from you though]

AU by KDDI is eating DoCoMo alive.... but WTF, no iMode?!
Strange. I just finished DoMoMo manual(365 page manual weighs 5 times the foma keitai) and come to think of it the manual said "foma nani nani" this and "foma nani nani' that throughout without barely a mention of iMode. Hmmmm.

Of course I have a strict NDA with the client. But let's say you walked past my desk right now and..... OOPS ....you just happened to see the DoCoMo keitai's emulator that's still sitting on my desktop that reads "D901i". Me bad.

[Mulboyne]

Thanks for the speedy clarification. That certainly makes a lot more sense what with DoCoMo investing in the brand overseas. I haven't even had time to embarass myself talking about this.