Failed Businesses in Japan - Vodafone
A study of how different companies have failed, and tips on how to succeed, in the Japanese market
By Greg Lane
Autumn, 2004—Vodafone’s flagship store in Shibuya, the hottest shopping district in Tokyo. Young girls with over-glossed lips, whitish dyed blond hair and dark tans, young couples and the odd otaku (Japanese nerd) wander in and out of the store picking up the handsets, flipping the clamshells open with a flick of the wrist, feeling them for weight and running the tips of their fingers over the tactile keys. The handsets on display signaled Vodafone Japan’s final integration into the global 3G strategy. A young couple enter the store and begin to browse through the phones. The girl picks up one of the older 2G handsets and turns it over, returning it to its plastic cradle with little reaction. Then, she reaches for the Sony Ericsson 802SE. Just with the solid weight of the handset she screws up her face. Flipping it open elicits a look of disgust, “Yada kore!” she exclaims to her rather passive boyfriend. Simply translated: “Yuck!” Vodafone had launched a full range of mobiles with features and styling almost a generation behind those available from the other major carriers. Like some kind of modern day museum piece, one of the phones even had a monochrome display—something not seen on a Japanese mobile since the year 2001. ...
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