■ Serialization / Smartphone conference of Takayuki Horin, Atsushi Ishikawa, Junya Ishino, Asako Fusano
"Smartphone talk" that you can understand the back side of the industry by four people who are interviewing at the forefront of the smartphone industry. This time, we will discuss DoCoMo's ahamo procedure issues and smartphone sales strategies.
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Career support is becoming paid
Mr. Fusano: DoCoMo's ahamo had problems such as server congestion when the service started. After that, we started to provide "ahamo WEB application support" and "ahamo WEB procedure support", which are paid services that allow the staff of the docomo Shop to support ahamo applications. The usage fee is 3300 yen each, and it seems that this service was announced at a previous meeting of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Mr. Fusano
Mr. Ishikawa: I rushed to the docomo shop because ahamo's online contract was too difficult to set up, but I wrote it on my blog because it didn't respond properly, which was what the world expected. For example, it's like rushing to ANA because the airline's peach service was bad, so while I think it might be a little different, DoCoMo announced that it will provide paid support as a drop-off point. Of course, this was expected, so I prepared it and started. It doesn't seem to mean accepting ahamo contracts at the docomo Shop. With paid support, the clerk gently looks at the contract by himself.
Mr. Ishikawa
Mr. Fusano: Oh, is that so?
Mr. Ishikawa: It seems that it is positioned as support to the last.
Mr. Ishino: What is interesting is that the support fee (3300 yen) is higher than the monthly fee (2970 yen) for ahamo. It turned out again that labor costs are high in career management.
Mr. Ishino
Mr. Fusano: That's 3300 yen each time, right?
Mr. Ishino: I don't think it's a subscription, so it's a one-time charge.
Mr. Horin: Other companies are the first to charge for support. KDDI is doing "au Smart Support" and Softbank is doing "Clarification of shop support contents and menus". KDDI provided an opportunity to cover support events such as hands-on sessions in order to promote the enhancement of "au Smart Support". DoCoMo is good at expanding various things such as "Net Total Support" (550 yen per month), but basically it is a round throw and is not trying to create a system by itself.
"Au Smart Support"
Mr. Horin
Mr. Ishino: If you follow DoCoMo, from December 2019, we have been charging support for people who bought terminals at online shops and mass retailers. From December 2020, as "app setting support", settings such as LINE, Mercari, and Mobile Suica are supported for 1650 yen. I feel that it is not a bad place to drop the price. As I recently heard, AEON Mobile supports the setting of LINE and Google accounts for about 6000 yen, and this service seems to be very popular. After all, some people pay at the store, so I think it's not bad to have people who need it pay. If everyone makes ahamo, there will be no way to earn money at the docomo Shop, so I think the idea of making money with support is not wrong.
Ishikawa: The industry will be healthy. Those who need support should pay for it, and for those who don't need it, I'm glad that there is a cheaper way. Personally, 5G Gigaho has a premier contract, but he doesn't need any support, so I think he'll deduct it from the basic fee and make it cheaper.
Mr. Ishino: I want an "online-only gigaho".
Mr. Horin: Or if you don't receive support, you can give back with d points. I feel that fairness is necessary there.
Mr. Ishikawa: You can pay the support fee with d points.
Mr. Fusano: Can I use d POINT for support?
Mr. Horin: Since d POINTs can be used to pay mobile phone charges, it can be said that you can pay by going around.
Mr. Ishino: If you are going to provide paid support, please show us the greatness of your support ability. If you buy a new model, it will take about an hour to set all the same settings as the old model. It's difficult to register an app account because it's personal information, but if you keep the order of apps the same as the old model, or if you support it so much, you'll pay more. I would like shops and distributors to further refine the content of their support.
Everything costs money
Mr. Ishikawa: I think this is fine because the pressure on shop staff and sales agents is that if you want to make money, you have to provide proper support. It's been a long time since the agency wanted to get paid for support, but if other stores don't do that, there is a risk that customers will go to another shop, so it's quite difficult. I couldn't introduce it. It was decided that the carrier would take the lead and give paid support all at once. If it becomes recognized that support will cost money, I think that the industry will be able to survive, so I think it will be a good flow. I hope that the user's understanding will improve and the user's dissatisfaction with "Why don't you support me even though I'm paying the communication fee" will be reduced.
Mr. Horin: If you compare it to a car, you can choose whether to have a car inspection at a dealer of each manufacturer, a gas station, or take it yourself and do a user car inspection. Of course, it costs money to ask for something, but Japan has been fooled by the mysterious wording of service. I think it's good to understand that everything costs money, but the procedure is just bad. I'm doing this four months after the announcement of ahamo because the initial setting wasn't good enough. I should have thought about it from the beginning.
Mr. Ishino: As with ahamo, all online-only plans are small-scaled.
Mr. Ishikawa: I think we are going in a direction that is quite different from what we originally expected. Of course, there are competitors, so it will be affected by those movements, but I think that due to the influence of Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Ryota Takeda, what ahamo really aimed for could not be realized. ..
Carrier handset sales have also changed
Mr. Fusano: The method of selling terminals has also changed. Carriers are already selling only terminals. In the case of DOCOMO, the "Smartphone Welcome Program" can be used by non-DOCOMO users, but in the future, we are planning to support lump-sum payments and installment payments at stores and online.
Mr. Ishikawa: According to the materials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, DoCoMo will allow non-contractors who do not have a DoCoMo line to buy terminals online. It is said that mobile phone compensation will be available by this summer. That makes it easier to buy, but I wonder how far the career will be on their own. If this happens, it will no longer be sold as a carrier model, and it will be said that "please buy the terminal somewhere appropriate", and I wonder if the carrier and the manufacturer will also be separated. This time, Galaxy is holding its own presentation before the career presentation, and Sony is also announcing it in a similar way. It may be such a timing.
Mr. Ishino: With the announcement of the new Xperia, DoCoMo was overtaken by the other two carriers.
Mr. Ishikawa: DoCoMo is motivated to hold a recital. KDDI and Softbank seem to be unmotivated to hold a recital, so I think it was a good idea to announce it with the manufacturer.
Mr. Horin: The motivation to hold a recital in the same format as before is fading in my career. Rather, I think it is more important for products to come out in a timely manner.
Mr. Ishikawa: As a reporter, it is better to hold a presentation because we have the opportunity to interview, but for users and manufacturers, it is better for the product to come out early. Until now, the Galaxy was announced globally in February every year, but its release in Japan was pulled until around June. That was only for DoCoMo's convenience. It's no longer the case, and even Japanese models can be sold in a short amount of time, so I'd like you to say, "You should sell it right away." I think the flow this time is very good.
Mr. Ishino: Softbank is also coming to the manufacturer's recital. It is normal for career players to attend a manufacturer's recital at a global recital.
Mr. Horin: That's a good thing. I feel that Softbank now has the best understanding of the temperature of the world. As was the case at the recital of Xiaomi's "Redmi Note 9T", he has a little face. I started to think that the atmosphere had changed a little.
Redmi Note 9T
Mr. Ishikawa: Softbank has been coming without their logo on their terminals for a long time. I feel like I know their position.
Mr. Horin: No, it's just because it costs money (laughs)
Mr. Ishikawa: In that respect, DoCoMo has its own logo.
Mr. Ishino: DoCoMo says that it "developed" the terminal.
Ishikawa: That's right. It also contains a lot of unique applications. If non-line subscribers can buy it, I feel that we should not include apps from such carriers.
Mr. Ishino: The ahamo version of Xperia does not contain any carrier apps. Isn't that all right?
Mr. Horin: As a career, I would like to try various things. The way carrier apps are handled has changed dramatically in the last year or so. au distributed its own service application in its own market called "au Market", but it is migrating to Google Play one after another. It may be President Takahashi's way of thinking, but the direction has obviously changed. There are risks, good and bad, of having a market other than Google Play. Only a small part of them are now available at "au Market". For both docomo and au, the carrier setup wizard runs after the Android settings are completed when setting up the device.
Mr. Ishino: And the contracted application is downloaded to the smartphone.
Mr. Horin: Originally, you only have to use what you have a contract with. For example, it would be easier if you could select only what you needed from the application list page provided by DoCoMo. I feel that the position has changed.
No need for a common carrier UI anymore?
Mr. Ishino: However, DoCoMo still has a home application.
Mr. Horin: "docomo LIVE UX". I don't know the reason for spending money over there.
Mr. Ishino: The individuality of the terminal will disappear, and I wonder if LIVE UX will stop anymore. I think it's okay to make a phone book. The standard Android home app isn't easy to use, but manufacturers are doing their best. I wonder if carriers need to prepare home apps and unify them in a way that destroys the individuality of the manufacturer.
Mr. Ishikawa: When changing models of LIVE UX, if it is a common UI for carriers, users will not hesitate to use it even on new terminals.
Mr. Ishino: There are merits like that, but I wonder if that is LIVE UX. I feel something a little different.
Mr. Horin: I asked him many times, but he doesn't seem to want to fix it at all.
Mr. Ishino: However, we don't use it, but there are quite a few people who use LIVE UX on Xperia and Galaxy.
Mr. Horin: When asked "What should I do with this?", It takes time to teach that it is LIVE UX (laughs).
Mr. Ishino: LIVE UX is also used in Galaxy Note, but it is absolutely difficult to use.
Mr. Ishikawa: The common UI is easy for people in the career shop to explain. It's difficult to tell if there are differences between manufacturers, and it's difficult to set up, so we use a common UI.
Mr. Horin: But the choices of manufacturers are decreasing.
Mr. Ishikawa: In that sense, I think it's time to review it.
Mr. Ishino: If support is charged, I feel that it is not necessary to unify LIVE UX.
Mr. Fusano: It seems difficult for shoppers to learn the UI of each company.
Mr. Ishino: No, it doesn't make much difference now. There is not much difference between Xperia and Galaxy.
Horin: Google created something like the basic rules for Android. Therefore, the difference is whether or not it conforms to the UI. docomo LIVE UX does not follow at all. That's why you should stop.
Mr. Ishino: Rather, LIVE UX is a heresy. But Xiaomi is also quite customized. Speaking of different, it's different.
Mr. Horin: Xiaomi's "MIUI" has changed the factory settings of terminals for Softbank. The SIM free version and the one for Softbank are different.
Mr. Ishino: Chinese manufacturers, such as Xiaomi's "MIUI" and OPPO's "ColorOS", are doing a lot of work. Speaking of different, it's different ...
Mr. Horin: In the past, it was said that you couldn't update if you touched it, but now that's not the case. It's clear how much you can customize.
Mr. Ishino: When it comes to Xiaomi terminals, there is something like an original updater, and the OS is updated before you know it. I wonder if that is really good.
......Continue!
Next time, we plan to discuss new smartphone products released in the spring of 2021. Please stay tuned.
Takayuki Horin writes review articles for digital-related products such as smartphones, mobile phones, and personal computers, and commentary articles for beginners, focusing on Web media and magazines. He has written many books such as manuals. Opinion number of the mobile industry.
Atsushi Ishikawa After joining Nikkei Home Publishing Co., Ltd. (currently Nikkei BP), he became independent in 2003. He covers not only domestic carriers and manufacturers, but also Google and Apple. NHK E-Tele "Hobby Doki!
Junya Ishino Joined Takarajimasha after graduating from Keio University. After becoming independent, he has been active in a wide range of media as a mobile journalist / writer. He has authored numerous books such as "Keitai Children" (Softbank new book) and "Easy to understand in one hour" (Mainichi Shimbun).
After being involved in editing mobile phone magazines at Asako Fusano Publishing, he became independent as a freelance writer in 2002. As one of the few female writers in the mobile industry, she writes in magazines and web media, focusing on introducing mobile devices from a female perspective.
Composition / Mikihiro Nakama / Fumihiko Sato
