After all, communication charges have not fallen by 40%, have they? Smartphone Industry 2019 Review [Industry Trends 1]

2019 is just around the corner, and it was another year full of big things happening in the mobile phone industry. Let's explain the topics of the mobile phone industry over the past year in an easy-to-understand Q&A format. First, industry trends related to careers, part 1 (mainly topics in the first half of 2019).

Topic 1: What has changed with the "smartphone 40% price cut statement"?

In 2018, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made a big splash when he said, "There is room for a 40% reduction in mobile phone charges." In June 2019, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications held an expert panel "Study Group on the Competitive Environment of the Mobile Market" in response to this, and as a result, it led to the revision of the Telecommunications Business Act in October 2019. .

Looking back at the contents of the revised Telecommunications Business Law, one of the highlights is the obligatory introduction of a separation plan that clearly separates communication charges and terminal charges. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications believes that one of the reasons why communication charges do not decrease is that mobile phone companies are focusing on significantly reducing smartphone prices using monthly communication charges as a source of funds. It's the reason why we couldn't get a big discount.

In addition to that, the revised law also regulates the upper limit of discounts on terminal charges that are not linked to communication charges to 20,000 yen, with some exceptions. You can see the attitude of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to thoroughly regulate the discounts of mobile phone terminals and eradicate large discounts.

Another highlight is the so-called “two-year limit” regulation, in which communication charges are discounted in exchange for a long-term contract. The existence of this "restriction" prevented consumers from switching to other companies, and as a result, competition stagnated and price competition did not occur. The upper limit of the penalty when you do so is 1000 yen, which is the reason why we have introduced regulations to reduce it to 1/10 of the conventional level.

At the same time, however, the revised law will also regulate discounts for long-term users, which are provided to people who have long-term contracts with the same mobile phone company, as it will be a factor that prevents the cancellation of the contract. I was. Despite the fact that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications had instructed mobile phone companies to increase discounts for long-term users, there are also voices of doubt about the sudden change in policy.

Topic 2: Smartphone charges aren't getting cheaper, are they?

Since the revision of the Telecommunications Business Law has made very strict regulations, mobile phone companies have introduced new rate plans and terminal purchase programs that revamped the conventional rate plans so as not to become illegal. I'm here. There are benefits, such as making it easier to cancel, but honestly, even if you change plans, the actual charges won't change much.

Although the Telecommunications Business Act was revised to lower smartphone charges, it seems that not many people actually feel that the new rate plans have become cheaper.

One of the reasons for this is that the three mobile phone companies have prepared in advance to respond in anticipation of government regulations such as legal revisions. In fact, KDDI (au) has already introduced a separation plan with the 2017 "au Pitatto Plan" and "au Flat Plan", and Softbank has already introduced the separation plan with the "Ultra Giga Monster +" and "Mini Monster" in 2018. , NTT DoCoMo also introduced a separation plan with "Gigaho" and "Gigalight" in April 2019, so the revision of the law does not mean that the charges will drop dramatically.

Secondly, the mobile phone market is already saturated, and the impact of the declining birthrate and aging population makes it difficult to expect market growth. is difficult to work. Rakuten Mobile, which entered the market in October 2019, was a company that the government had high hopes for as an entity that would change this environment and accelerate competition. It is only the service content that should be said, and it has not been able to fulfill its role.

And thirdly, instead of regulating terminal discounts, the three mobile phone companies will focus on measures that allow them to use services at a great price by combining mobile phone charges and powerful Internet. It's what happened. In fact, in 2018, KDDI offered a plan that can be used at a great price by combining the "Netflix" service, and in November 2019, NTT Docomo offered "Gigaho" subscribers " It became a hot topic when it was announced that Amazon Prime will be offered for free for one year.

For mobile phone companies, a reduction in communication charges has a very large impact on business performance, but a large discount on terminal charges and Internet service charges does not affect business performance that much. For this reason, unless there is a major market change such as the rapid growth of Rakuten Mobile, competition to reduce communication charges will not occur easily, and for the time being, it is likely that the competition for discounts on Internet services will accelerate.

Topic 3: How did the Huawei problem end up?

In December 2018, Meng Wanzhou, vice president of Huawei Technologies, was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States, leading to conflict between the United States and China over the company. intensifies. The United States has asked its allies not to introduce Huawei equipment, and in May 2019, the Department of Commerce placed Huawei and its group companies on the Entity List, making it difficult for Huawei to do business with U.S. companies. I'm in a situation where I can't.

One of the events that has affected consumers in particular is smartphones. In fact, Huawei can no longer do business with Google, a US company, so smartphones developed after sanctions can no longer be equipped with Google apps and services, including "Google Play". Some of the company's new smartphone products, which have been introduced in Japan every year, have not been introduced due to the influence.

However, although the United States has implemented several mitigation measures, it does not seem to lift the sanctions against Huawei itself, and the sanctions are expected to continue for a while. As a result, Huawei will likely be unable to provide smartphones equipped with Google apps and services for the time being.

Therefore, in anticipation that sanctions will continue in the future, Huawei will strengthen its own platform "Huawei Mobile Services" (HMS), and as long as the sanctions continue, it will be equipped with HMS as an alternative to Google's services. Now clearly shows the policy of providing smartphones with In Japan, smartphones equipped with only HMS have not yet appeared, but if the sanctions continue in 2020, it seems likely that smartphones equipped with HMS will be sold in Japan as well.

Author Profile Masahiro Sano

From Fukushima Prefecture, graduated from Tohoku Institute of Technology. After working as an engineer in the development of digital content, he became a writer specializing in mobile phones and mobile phones. Currently, he writes in a wide range of fields related to mobile phones, from industry trends to culture.