Japan is home to one of the most developed telecommunications sectors in the world. The telecommunications market generated the highest
in fiscal year 2019, with mobile communications playing a major role. With an advanced Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network and highly developed handsets, the Japanese mobile communications industry provides high-speed data transmission that can be conveniently used by consumers. The
Competition in the mobile communications market
After undergoing some deregulation and mergers, three major key players have emerged in the Japanese mobile communications industry: NTT Docomo, au by KDDI, and SoftBank. SoftBank Corp. operates as the telecommunications subsidiary of the Japanese multinational holding company SoftBank Group Corp., which is one of the world’s
leading telecommunication operators based on revenue. Both companies are headquartered in Tokyo’s prestigious Minato ward. A
breakdown of mobile phone subscribers by operator shows that SoftBank ranks third in the Japanese market. The company sells several million
mobile devices via new subscription plans and device upgrades each year. When Apple entered the Japanese smartphone market in 2008, SoftBank was the first company to offer iPhones in Japan. With the launch of its own mobile carrier service in March 2020, Rakuten Mobile, Inc. further increased the competition in the mobile communications market.
A variety of services and products
SoftBank Corp. records a
revenue of several trillion Japanese yen per year. The company distinguishes between four main segments: the consumer segment, the Yahoo segment, the enterprise segment, and the distribution segment. A look at the
revenue distribution by segment reveals that the consumer business, which includes telecommunications services for individual customers, accounts for more than half of the company’s revenues. In this business area, the company pursues a multi-brand strategy with SoftBank, Y!mobile, and LINEMO, which are tailored towards different kinds of customers. The acquisition of Z Holdings in 2019 expanded the portfolio with a wide range of internet services, such as e-commerce, membership services, and internet advertising. The move into other business areas is motivated by the growing importance of digitalization, which is expected to have a significant impact on the telecommunications market.
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