Baidu’s Adventure in Japan

Perhaps the most discussed topic during my dissertation trip in China was Baidu’s decision to enter the Japanese search engine market in January 2008. It was the first thing that came to mind of just about everyone I spoke with on the topic of my study. Following a nearly year long study of Japanese-language search technology and localization, Baidu’s expansion plans were first announced at the end of 2006. In a reaction on earnings for the fourth quarter in February 2007, Robin Li said the company would spend $15 million, 14 percent of Baidu’s total budget in 2007, trying to replicate its home market success in Internet-savvy Japan.

Getting Started in Japan

Earlier in May 2006 Baidu had announced a hiring plan to search for Japanese and Vietnamese search talents and product managers to be in charge of know-how on the local competitive market as well as local cultures. Rumors at the time were that Read more

November 20, 2008 · Filed Under Asia Web, China, Japan

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Kisekae: The Dress-up Handset

Today, the mobile phone is not just a device with functionality but is also a fashion accessory. We see many boys and girls who decorate their handsets with stickers, cover cases and beeds. Besides the device’s physical appearance, people also customize their wallpaper (main display on handset) with their favorite pictures. That same trend can be found in Japan, but in a more advanced stage: Japanese people once desired to personalize all interfaces in their handset, including SMS sending/receiving screens, outgoing/incoming call screens, menu interfaces and so forth. This desire gave birth to what is now called “Kisekae”.

1. What’s Kisekae?

Kisekae literally means “change what is being worn to something else” in Japanese (i.e. the Barbie doll is called “Kisekae” doll in Japan), though for our purposes the common software application term of “skin” may be appropriate, as in “change the skin (interface appearance) to another”. With the Kisekae tool provided by mobile operators, third parties can develop content for all handset interfaces with images and Flash Lite files and provide it as a package, and consumers can change all interfaces simply by installing it with a single click (NTT Docomo has a introduction to its Kisekae tool in English on its website).

2. Customizable Interfaces

The interfaces that are customizable with Kisekae content include:
•   the Menu Screen
•   the Main Display
•   the Screensaver
•   SMS Sending/Receiving screens
•   Phone Call screens
•   Signal and Battery Icons

3. Wide Variety of Content Available for Purchase/Free

A large number of third parties already provide hundreds of varieties of Kisekae content packages. Users mainly download the content from mobile operators’ content portal sites and/or third parties’ websites. Both buyable and free Kisekae content is available, and consumers primarily prefer content with the following themes:
•   Fictional/Comic characters
•   Animals
•   Brands
•   Celebrities
•   Athletes