Why did Japanese mobile phone manufactures lose?

　I had a discussion with major players of communication companies and government OBs on “Why Japanese mobile phone manufactures lost.”

　For the second-generation mobile phone = 2G, Europe spread GSM to their former colonies, and Japan lost in the global competition. This is a well-known fact. This affected the atmosphere between countries. Which technology standard to choose was largely dependent on their policies and strategies as well.

　However, why did Japanese manufacturers lose against Samsung and Apple, even though Japan lead the transition in the market and infrastructure in the third-generation = 3G, which was freed from such restrictions?

　Japan moved to 3G in 2001. There was a 2-3 years advantage compared to overseas. At the time, European communication carriers did not have the funds to move to 3G due to the introduction of radio wave auction.

　On the other hand, Japanese carriers such as DoCoMo and au had money, since Japan did not introduce the auction and they built the 3G market first. One of the reasons why Japan did not introduce the auction was their dependency on the power of carriers. However, why didn’t the manufacturers utilize that superiority in overseas market?

　OBs and major players of manufacturers list various reasons. The closed nature of European communication carriers, high cost condition coming from the high specs of Japan, and the lack of experience and know-how. However, at that time, those circumstances were not so different than Samsung in South Korea. Rather, Japanese mobile phone companies dominated over Samsung. However, they did not move. Samsung did.

　Then iPhone was released and the market was turned upside down again. At that time, Japanese communication carriers and mobile phone manufacturers disregarded smartphones. The failures of not selling 3G to the world and not making smartphones lead to the current situation.

　Even if they knew, they could have bitten into it if they relied on communication carriers, since the Japanese market is big. There is criticism over the propriety of the policy. However, I do not think the situation and chances were that much different for Samsung and Apple.

　Then why did this happen? I do not know.

　Is it the problem with the “management” in the end?

　If so, the issue becomes how we develop executives. There are few professional executives in Japan. People climb up the career ladder to get to the top, so they lack the natural features of advising the management. However, there are family managed companies like Toyota that rank in the top around the world. And there are companies such as Sony, Honda, and Uniqlo, which the founders grew into global companies.

　Of course, I do not have the answer to that question. So, I ponder what “Learning” should work on.