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NEC releases browser for accessing Web via PC-VAN

NEC began offering simplified access to the World Wide Web through its PC-VAN commercial online service effective December 20, 1995. The new service requires use of a proprietary 1,000 yen ($9.80) browser called WorldTALK for PC-VAN. The service features transmission speeds of 14.4 kbps and higher and no per-minute charges other than normal PC-VAN access fees. NEC has offered Web access through PC-VAN since October, but the new browser makes it easier for users to get on the Web, according to NEC.


NEC to offer PC-VAN subscribers direct PPP access to the Internet

NEC will offer its PC-VAN commercial online service subscribers direct PPP access to the Internet effective February 22. Currently the company only offers a gateway service whereby users must first enter PC-VAN to use the Internet. Under the new option subscribers will be able to dial up a dedicated provider and connect under a TCP/IP environment simply by typing in their PC-VAN ID numbers. The new service will make it possible for PC-VAN subscribers to gain Internet access at any time without having to sign contracts with dedicated Internet connectivity service providers.


SOFTBANK, YAHOO to form joint venture for Japanese version of Yahoo service

SOFTBANK announced January 11 that within the month it will form a Japan-based joint venture with YAHOO, operator of Yahoo, the Internet's most popular search engine service. In a move that reflects SOFTBANK's increasingly deep involvement with the Internet, the new firm will from April begin offering a Japanese language version of the Yahoo service. The new company, to be capitalized at 200 million yen ($1.9 mil) and based at SOFTBANK's Tokyo headquarters, will be 60%-owned by SOFTBANK and 40%-owned by YAHOO. It will start with a dozen or so employees and strive to achieve first year revenues of several hundred million yen. Last year SOFTBANK bought a $2 million capital stake in YAHOO.


TOPPAN starts marketing research experiment using Internet

TOPPAN PRINTING has started an "electronic marketing research" experiment using the Internet. The company lent PCs free of charge to 30 women volunteers in typical family households who have agreed to answer online questionnaires and participate in virtual "groups" for a fixed period of time. TOPPAN says it can address all of the participants simultaneously without incurring the costs of bringing them together in one location, enabling it to cut research time and expenses by more than half compared to traditional methods. The company hopes to carry out the experiment with 100 participants the first year to investigate the efficacy and validity of doing Internet-based marketing research.


NIFTY to offer Web access via Nifty-Serve from January of 1996

Tokyo-based NIFTY will start offering World Wide Web access through Nifty-Serve, its commercial online service, from January 24, 1996. Users will pay a 10 yen ($0.10) per minute charge for the service; ordinary Nifty-Serve fees will not apply. Nifty-Serve is Japan's largest commercial online service with approximately 1.3 million members.


NIFTY to lower Nifty-Serve charges, introduce fixed-rate system effective April 1

Tokyo-based NIFTY, operator of Nifty-Serve, Japan's largest commercial online service, will lower its connectivity charges by 20% and introduce a fixed monthly fee option effective April 1. Under the new fixed-rate system, users will be able to enjoy three hours of online time for 1,800 yen ($17) monthly. It will be the first time NIFTY has ever lowered its access charges. Pressure from Nifty-Serve users wanting to browse the Internet forced the company to modify its rate structure, say Tokyo-based observers.


One in seven Internet users has shopped online, says survey

One of every seven Internet users has shopped online and more than 63% of users say they would like to try online shopping in the future, according to a survey conducted on the World Wide Web in December of last year by Nikkei Multimedia Magazine. The survey found that 64% of the online shoppers spent 10,000 yen ($95) or less, primarily on goods that were subsequently mailed to them. Nearly 30% of those with online shopping experience spent between 10,000 yen and 50,000 yen ($95-476), while less than 6% spent more than 50,000 yen. Nearly 44% of those responding to the survey said they began using the Web after April of 1995.


COMMENTARY

As in the U.S., the explosion in Internet usage in Japan is forcing commercial online services such as PC-VAN and Nifty-Serve to offer greater access to the World Wide Web, in effect encouraging users to abandon limited online services for the much greater global connectivity offered by the Internet.

A key difference in the Japan market is that services like PC-VAN and Nifty-Serve have a strong sense of community built around their vast amounts of Japanese language content, something that the Internet lacked until mid-1995. But with explosive growth in both the number of Internet users and Internet service providers last year, the amount of Japanese language content available on the Web has soared, diminishing the appeal of the commercial services. While it will take time for a critical mass of Japanese language material to build up on the Web, the shift from commercial online services to the Internet so evident in the U.S. is starting to happen in Japan as well. Key signals: Nifty-Serve's January 11 announcement that it will cut online charges for the first time ever and PC-VAN's new direct Internet access service, slated to start February 22. Japan's commercial online services, like their counterparts in the U.S., are positioning themselves to become Internet access providers.

Until now there have been no comprehensive Japanese language search engines available on the Internet. But in the last six months a number of powerful new search engines have appeared, sponsored by major players such as HITACHI and FUJITSU. And with Softbank's move to create a Japanese counterpart to Yahoo, the Japanese language portion of the Internet is poised for even more explosive growth.

"Hanako's Introductory Guide to PCs," released January 16 by Hanako, one of Japan's top women's magazines, offers another insight into Japan's online world. What is intriguing about this little book is that communications and online service usage are topics covered in chapters two and three, respectively, immediately following chapter one, which is simply a basic overview for first-time buyers of PCs. In fact, chapters two, three, and four are all devoted to online service-related topics such as e-mail, BBSs, and Internet shopping. Spreadsheets, databases, and other applications aren't covered until chapters five and six.

This suggests that Hanako believes that many of its readers are motivated to buy PCs primarily to take advantage of the Internet and other online services. It stands to reason that many first-time PC users in Japan are similarly motivated. In fact, it may not be long before the desire to gain access to the World Wide Web, e-mail, and commercial online services in Japan becomes the key driver of domestic PC sales.

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This report is sponsored by TKAI of Portland, Oregon, specialists in Japanese language Internet marketing, and Digitized Information, Inc. of Tokyo, a leader in providing daily English language coverage of electronics industry developments in Japan.

For more information on monitoring electronics industry developments in Japan, or to receive a free e-mail sample of service offerings, please contact Digitized Information at diginfo@gol.com.

For more information on marketing to Japan via the Internet, please visit http://www.tkai.com/

Tim Clark
Editor