| In
Asia and Europe cellular communications
communications companies have generating billions
in revenue by launching augmented cellular
information services throughout 2000 and 2001. In
Japan, according to NTTDoCoMo, much of the intial
success in Japan was due to rapid consumption of
their i-Mode content, including entertainment
guides, horoscopes, games and ring tones. To
date, DoCoMo has generated $37 billion in
revenue, amassing 32 million cell phone
subscribers, spending an average of $16 per
month, (customer attrition included) in just
under four years. Simultaneously
in Europe, GSM phone subscribers have rapidly
adopted new SMS (short messaging service)
services on their GSM phones and are sending
short text messaging like wildfire. According to Forrester
Research 8.5 billion SMS messages are sent in
Europe every month. In 2001, Orange, one of
Europe's leading cellular providers reported that
usage of non-voice services such as text
messaging continued to grow and contributed 13.9%
of UK GSM network revenues in the first half of
2001.
Like
many analysts, Wasabi Wireless sees that mobile
carriers in Japan and Europe are both
experiencing a sales plateau in 2002, trying to
regain the rapid growth experienced in the last
few years by introducing the latest technology
with limited success. However, it is also clear
that the initial, first generation paid content
services and text messaging services offered to
consumers in Japan and Europe were fantastically
successful in generating new business with
significant customer adoption and billions in
revenue.
Most
analysts say that the United States is a nacent
cellular market. Major U.S. cellular carriers are
investing billions of dollars in infrastructure
and advertising now, gearing up to launch similar
first and second generation services to repeat at
least some of the success seen in Japan and in
Europe. Wasabi Wireless is modeled on the success
of Japan's i-Mode and Europe's love of SMS
messaging. Click the following link for details
on our business
model and investor information.
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