With the very high EURO and low valuations of many Japanese companies, and with changing attitudes in Japan, now is an excellent time for European companies to start or expand business in Japan.
There are many ways to start or expand business in Japan, and acquiring a Japanese company is one of the paths often selected by European companies to grow in Japan.
Some acquisitions of Japanese companies by European corporations have led to fantastic successes – while others have led to catastrophic failures.
The presentation will discuss the key factors for European companies to succeed in acquiring a Japanese company, and some of the key reasons for failure, based on the speakers 23 years of experience with Japan’s high-tech sector.
Gave talk organized by the Asia Pacific Technology Network (APTN) at the beautiful house of the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation near Regents Park in London, title “The strengths of Japan’s post-Vodafone telecoms sector: opportunities for foreign companies and investors”
Agenda:
Japan’s mobile communications markets – overview and key players
When European’s and Japanese talk about “Broad Band” they don’t mean the same thing. Status of FTTH and wireless broadband in Japan today vs Europe’s situation
Japan’s mobile telecommunications market: no GSM and no SMS, but a lot more
Today was the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome which was at the beginning of the European Union.
The Treaty of Rome (Wikipedia) (“Treaty establishing the European Economic Community”) was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany and came into force on 1 January 1958.
In Tokyo we had a big party at the top of Roppongi Hills – 52nd floor. Here are some pictures…
Celebration of the foundation of the EU 50 years ago with the Treaty of RomeCelebration in Tokyo of the 50 year anniversary of the Treaty of Rome- the foundation of the EUCelebration of the 50 year anniversary in Tokyo of the Treaty of Rome that laid the foundation for the European Union
Tokyo Tower was illuminated in green color on St Patrick’s Day – (when I took these photographs a Japanese policeman guarding the Russian Embassy nearby asked me if Tokyo Tower from now on will always be green – so I explained St. Patrick’s Day to the Japanese policeman):
St. Patrick’s Day Tokyo: Green Tokyo Tower on St. Patrick’s DaySt. Patrick’s Day Tokyo: Green Tokyo Tower on St. Patrick’s DaySt. Patrick’s Day Tokyo: Green Tokyo Tower on St. Patrick’s DaySt. Patrick’s Day Tokyo: Green Tokyo Tower on St. Patrick’s DaySt. Patrick’s Day Tokyo: Green Tokyo Tower on St. Patrick’s Day
I took these photographs standing close to the perimeter of the Russian Embassy in Tokyo, which is heavily guarded by Japanese police. When I took the photographs of the green Tokyo Tower, a police officer standing guard asked me, if Tokyo Tower from now on will always be green. I told him that its only today for St. Patrick’s Day. The Japanese police officer did not know about St. Patrick’s Day, so I explained St. Patrick’s Day to him….
In his presentation, Dr. Fasol will explain the essentials of Japan’s mobile phone market, why and how it is so different to Europe’s. He will also talk about some of the reasons why it is so difficult for European companies to succeed and uncover opportunities and the keys to success for European companies in this important market.
The EU-Japan Center for Industrial Cooperation held a 5-day intensive course in Japan for executives from EU firms between Monday 19th February – Friday 23rd February, 2007 on foreign direct investment in Japan.
On Monday 19th February I gave a talk “Trends in high technology in Japan”, covering the following points:
22-25 January 2007 MarcusEvans organized the “Global 3G Evoluation Forum” in Makuhari near Tokyo.
Speakers included:
Takanori Utano, Executive Vice-President and CTO of DoCoMo,
Takehiro Nakamura of NTT and Vice-Chairman of 3GPP
Jean-Pierre Bienaime, Chairman of the UMTS-Forum,
Gaston Ormazabal of Verizon Labs
and many other leading mobile communications managers from all over the world.
Jointly with Jan Larsson, General Strategy Manager of TeliaSonera International Carrier division, I chaired all sessions all day on Wednesday January 24, 2007.
On Monday, January 22, 2007, I held a three hour workshop about “Mobile Payment”.
Ericsson strategy for Japan: Ericsson Strategy & Technology Summit Tokyo on November 15, 2006
CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg explains Ericsson’s strategy for the world’s most advanced mobile communications market: Japan
Ericsson strategy for Japan explained at Ericsson’s Strategy & Technology Summit in Tokyo on November 15, 2006.
Ericsson’s CEO, Carl-Henric Svanberg, Ericsson CSO – Chief of Strategy, Japan-CEO Rory Buckley and other Ericsson top management presented Ericsson’s strategy and vision. About 100 investors and investment bank analysts were invited to attend.
I was given the opportunity to share the lunch table with CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg and had a fascinating discussion (some of his comments flowed into our company’s project report to the European Union on benchmarking Japan’s vs EU’s fixed and mobile telecommunications and broadband sectors).
With some of the largest and most advanced mobile investments, Japan’s mobile market is one of the most important markets globally for Ericsson. Recently Ericsson won major contracts from SoftBank and eMobile.
Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg speaking at the Ericsson Technology Summit in Tokyo
The day before the Finland-Japan Ubiquitous Society Conference in Tokyo, I briefed the top-management (CEO, CTO and other top managers) of TeliaSonera, on October 26, 2006.
The next day, October 27, 2006, the Finland-Japan Ubiquitous Society Conference was held. Tero Ojanpera, Exec VP and CTO of NOKIA, gave an overview of NOKIA’s vision of communications, other speakers and panelists included Juho Lipsanen, Finland CEO of TeliaSonera, KDDI Chairman Murakami.
Nokia CTO Tero Ojanpera talking at the Finland Japan Ubiquitous Society Conference
Panel discussion with TeliaSonera CEO Juho Lipsanen and KDDI-Chairman Murakami.
Title: “Japan’s Mobile Phone Industry and u-Japan”
Date and Time: Thursday, 12th October 2006, 17:00-19:00
Location: Main Conference Room 4F, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, Tokyo
Agenda:
Japan’s mobile phone and broad-band markets are about 3-6 years ahead of Europe: new services are typically invented or first brought to market in Japan, 3-6 years earlier than in Europe. Internet in Japan is generally much faster and much cheaper than in Europe. For this reason and because of it’s size, Japan’s telecom markets are full of opportunities for European companies with the right products and the right strategy, and for investors with the necessary knowledge.
Japan’s mobile phone industry is notoriously difficult to understand for Europeans because it’s market logic is very different from Europe’s, and because the pace of innovation and structural change is much faster, and because of the language barriers.
This talk will explain the driving forces behind recent dramatic changes in Japan’s mobile telecom sector, and will explain new changes that the “ubiquitous-Japan” (“u-Japan”) policy will bring in the near future.
Do you need to know what Europe’s mobile phone and internet markets will look like in 2010 or 2015? – Come to this talk and you will get a good look into Europe’s IT future about 5 years ahead, as well as Japan’s telecom markets today.
Background
Following Vodafone’s decision to end business in Japan and the announcement of the sale of Vodafone-Japan to SoftBank, this author has been asked to brief the Technology Attaches of the 25 EU Embassies in Tokyo on Japan’s mobile phone and telecom sector.
The EU Technology Attaches were particularly interested in the impact on Europe by the termination of by far the biggest ever European investment in Japan. Clearly it is also important to determine, what other European companies can learn from Vodafone’s experience.
Eurotechnology Japan KK has been awarded a contract by the European Union to benchmark Japan’s telecom sector vs EU and make recommendations.
