NTT DoCoMo, Inc.: Mobile FeliCa

Stephen P. Bradley; Thomas R. Eisenmann; Masako  Egawa; Akiko  Kanno

Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2005 (Revised June 2006)

NTT DoCoMo, Inc.: Mobile FeliCa

by Stephen P. Bradley, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Masako Egawa and Akiko Kanno

Abstract

Managers of DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile phone company, are formulating a strategy for mobile FeliCa: contactless integrated circuits that will be built into DoCoMo phones, allowing them to be used for quick and convenient retail or commuter fare payments, building entry, airline boarding passes, and other applications. DoCoMo's managers must determine how best to profit from mobile FeliCa. The options, which are not mutually exclusive, include: increasing mobile phone subscriber acquisition and retention rates by offering "sticky" differentiated new services; extracting monopoly rents from a joint venture (with Sony, FeliCa's inventor) that will license FeliCa technology to other mobile phone companies and application providers; and profiting from eMoney (retail payments) either through partnerships with incumbent financial services firms or by offering payment services directly.

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Expansion; Alliances; Wireless Technology; Information Technology Industry; Communications Industry; Japan;

Format: Print

19 pages

Educators Purchase

Citation:

Bradley, Stephen P., Thomas R. Eisenmann, Masako Egawa, and Akiko Kanno. "NTT DoCoMo, Inc.: Mobile FeliCa." Harvard Business School Case 805-124, April 2005. (Revised June 2006.)

The case provides students an opportunity to examine the founding of an e-commerce startup that used storytelling and compelling images to sell furniture and home accessories to millennials. The case describes the rapid sales growth the company experienced, as well as the challenges it faced with operations, delivery, and order tracking. Finally, the protagonist is poised to raise a Series C financing he hopes will value the company at $200 million.

eSig, an early-stage startup, offers an electronic signature application as a "freemium" product, i.e., users can upgrade from a free basic version to a premium version by paying a subscription fee. Using 9 months of data from 50,000 user activations (available as a case supplement), students are asked to project the number of new users eSig will acquire in Q1 2016 and recommend how much they should spend during the quarter on each major marketing channel (e.g., Facebook ads, Google ads, content marketing, etc.). Note: the name and functionality of the actual freemium application upon which the case is based have been disguised.

Faculty & Research

NTT DoCoMo, Inc.: Mobile FeliCa

Abstract

Citation:

About the Authors

More from these Authors