So, with the FCC confirming Google is indeed testing a home wireless "personal communications device" prototype and rumors of the imminent release of Google's "Project Tungsten" home media device, you might think Japan's consumer electronics companies are worried about Google. And you'd be right, but the worries should be on a deeper level than readily apparent.
But first, a bit of history. With the arrival of Apple's iPhone on the market in 2007, it was abundantly clear the mobile phone market was entering a new phase of competition, one that Japan's i-mode fueled domestic mobile phone market would find difficult to resist. To compete with Apple, Japan Inc. could have started up a project to locally create a competitor to iOS and Apple's app development ecosystem, one which would have taken some time and, given such history as NTT DoCoMo's expensive failure to export i-mode to the rest of the world (anyone remember DoCoMo's $9.8 billion investment in AT&T Wireless and mMode?), arguably one with a dubious future. (Forbes)
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