I don't think so, unless there is another player we haven't heard about yet. Mobile content really needs to be specific to the mobile platform, and I'm not sure AOL has a lot of that. But Hori recognizes that in the tough game of content provision, AOL could be a heavyweight, and he says the tie-up could provide a healthy challenge to other providers who do not have the same level of resources that AOL has in technology, branding, and marketing. He nonetheless sees opportunities for others since AOL doesn't play in all possible content categories. Cybird, like others, has received a lot of attention from overseas mobile Net firms interested in entering Japan's market.
Japan is where the battlefield is.
Only after those are in place can the content come into play. Jeffrey L. Funk, associate professor at the Kobe University Graduate School of Business, cautions that for DoCoMo, the opportunities overseas are less than clear, but the potential is there. If successful, DoCoMo and AOL could provide the same integrated services overseas that they appear to be aiming to provide in Japan. Funk explains that mobile users want to have services that enable the integration of their desktop and mobile phone in areas such as email, file transfers and editing, Internet clipping, and other applications. DoCoMo is an obvious candidate for doing this since it controls the wireless Net market in Japan much more than any firm controls the wireline Internet market.