Eurotechnology Japan KK
::: Post-Galapagos Japan? :::
globalizing Japan's fantastic technologies...      Nov 26, 2009
Greetings!

"Why do Japanese companies make so beautiful mobile phones with fantastic functions, and have almost no global market share?"
I asked this question back in 2003 to NTT-DoCoMo's CEO Dr. Tachikawa (see my article "Leadership questions of the week" in Wallstreet Journal of June 12, 2006, page 31), and offered several proposals to Dr. Tachikawa, of which he accepted one.

A related question is:
"why can Samsung, LG and Apple beat Japan's initially far more advanced mobile phone makers, and why have Japan's phone makers taken no effective action to build global business in order to avoid extinction?"

Now six years after my initial presentation to DoCoMo's CEO, I have been invited as the only non-Japanese to work on Japan's "Post-Galapagos Committee". For most of this year our small group of industry CEOs, academics, government officials and other leaders have been working on understanding the reasons for Japan's "Galapagos effect" and how to overcome it.

Read about this work here in the New York Times, about my (Japanese language) presentation to the committee on the IT-Media website here (in Japanese), and download my presentation PowerPoints here (pdf-format, Japanese language).

The "Galapagos effect" has not been created by a single factor. Instead a collection of choices by the management teams of Japan's electrical conglomerates have prevented leverage of their domestic success stories into global success stories. These choices can be overcome. In our "Post-Galapagos committee" we have worked all-year on how to overcome these choices.

Unfortunately the "Galapagos effect" is only one symptom of the crisis of Japan's electrical giants: most have shown little or no growth in sales over the last 10 years, while at the same time margins tend to be small or negative. Over the same period, General Electric has increased sales by a factor of about three, while at the same time earning healthy margins.

Overcoming this crisis will create many opportunities. If at least some of the conclusions of our "Post Galapagos Committee" can be realized, then our committee's hard and totally voluntary work during most of this year and many late nights will not be wasted.

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::: Eurotechnology Japan newsletter schedule :::
Planned newsletter schedule:

January 2010 issue:
"New opportunities vs old mistakes - foreign companies in Japan's high-tech world". Based on a presentation given on November 18, 2009 to the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in Japan (first version given at Stanford University).
Single copy/individual subscription | Corporate subscription | download free sample

February 2010 issue (planned, changes may occur):
"e-Money, mobile payments, mobile commerce - will cash become obsolete?".
Based on a presentation given on October 7, 2009, 12:00 to the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) (first version given to the global Mobile Payment Forum).

March 2010 issue (planned, changes may occur):
"Japan's media revolution"
Based on presentations to top management of one of Europe's large TV and media corporations, and at Global Media Forum BCWW2009 in Seoul, Korea.

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::: About us :::
Founded in 1996/1997 in Tokyo, Eurotechnology Japan KK focuses on telecommunications and environmental industries. We work on M&A and help foreign companies grow in Japan, we help Japanese companies globalize, and we have advised about 100 investment fund managers over the years on technology industries. Our founder Gerhard Fasol works with Japan's telecom industry since 1984.
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Your Eurotechnology-Japan Team
Eurotechnology Japan K. K.
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