Will Japan ever go .mobi?
To me I am not so optimistic that the Japanese will turn to .mobi websites. You don’t have to look far in “Japanese only” websites not run by foreign expats or “maniac” tech enthusiasts to see that mainstream sites are not on the .mobi domain yet. Most companies go for the .co.jp domain because it has the highest quality and brand image in Japan. The .jp domain is secondary and much cheaper without all the red tape required for .co.jp domains. There is also a .net.jp domain too. When you factor in the .com and .net domains, it quickly becomes crowded for the Japanese to determine what would be the best domain to put a mobile site on.
Force is as strong word perhaps, but I think it’s going to take some clever marketing in Japan to get small and mid-sized Japanese companies or even individuals to purchase and develop .mobi websites when they can just as easily do it on their .co.jp or .jp domain.
In fact, here is a Japanese only website which is a popular publishing company that distributes a trendy young Japanese gal magazine called Ranzuki. This magazine is very big among young Japanese girls. If you notice, the website only has a mobile version. It has no parent desktop website. For some reason they feel young girls will only want to use their mobile phones, so a traditional site is not necessary. Second, you will notice that the website is a .com domain. Third, you will notice the website is also an ecommerce solution. Mobile shopping is critical in Japan. Finally, the website is encoded in Shift-JIS which is the defacto standard for Japanese computers and character input..not UTF-8 or EUC-JP. Incidentally, this website is built on Oscommerce Mobile version developed by a Japanese web developer.
My point here is that you have to dig deep into the heart of Japanese websites and developers. Most of the foreign expats I know in Japan are all on iPhones, buying .mobi or other special domains, and mixing with the trends. If I walk into a Japanese high school down the street, I won’t find any iPhone or equivalent. Around me here it’s all about fashion, making friends, and socializing over the phone via messaging, mixi, gree, or something similar entirely in Japanese. Many of these kids have no idea what’s going on in the States or other countries with respect to mobile technology or websites.
The idea that Japanese create two websites as I see it may help to contribute to the prospect that one day .mobi may become a viable solution for a mobile website. It also just might be that the Japanese kick the can on their main website and just go mobile entirely. In that case, I don’t think .mobi will fair well against the mightier .co.jp or .jp domains.
The golden nugget here is how will Japan convince people to go .mobi. I feel exclusive features may be the answer. The Japanese love being exclusive and are very image conscious. We all are perhaps. If the .mobi domain can provide something that .jp, .com, or .co.jp can’t, then perhaps .mobi will prevail.
Right off the bat though, .jp and .mobi differ by two characters. That’s a disadvantage in Japan at the moment.
These are just my thoughts and am very aware I could be wrong. I welcome any other insight into this as I myself am trying to predict what might happen in Japan.
As a final thought, there are three “main” groups of consumers in Japan. They are in my experience as follows:
1. Young students
2. House Wives
3. Businessmen
All three are totally mobile these days. House Wives and the young are shopping more and more online with their mobile phones. Check out the new Ageha Fashion site for the latest trend in mobile shopping http://ageha-shop.com/index.html
Note to mention QR codes are plastered on everything in sight here.
Geez, I could go on and on here. Sorry….laugh.
In any event, hopefully .mobi will catch on more here. After 17 years in Japan I’d say anything can happen. We’ll see.
Regards,
Jim Atwood
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