I-Mode Popularity

If you ever visit the streets of Japan you will notice that almost everyone who uses their mobile is not using it to call but they are busy typing characters typical to a typist on a computer. This is because of the mobile internet service i-Mode.

Since 1999 i-Mode has become a success in Japan. At the end of 2001, nearly 30 million people where subscribed in i-Mode in Japan and at the end of 2004 nearly 50 million people subscribed. So the figures say all. But the rate internationally is not that great.

Not many i-Mode sites content is in English so the pick up abroad is not great due to most of the world speaking English. Growth in the USA has not materialized due to lack of demand and lack of population density. For i-Mode to work in the US there would need a lot of i-Mode servers to be in place spread over a large area in each major city.

In 2002, i-Mode was launched in some European countries, to this day i-Mode features in the following countries:

• Germany
• The Netherlands
• Belgium
• France
• Spain
• Italy
• Greece

Before this time WAP was released much earlier in 1999. This was not a success as i-Mode in Europe in not a success, there is not enough network coverage and multimedia developers developing for wireless networks. This is more than likely not going to improve as new smart phones can read any type of internet whether it is to used on the standard PC websites or the wireless sites. So theoretically both i-Mode and WAP will face a decrease in demand for the services unless the popularity of smart phones is not great.

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