Twitter Japan-Based Mobile Version
Associated Press announced that on Thursday Twitter launched a Japan-based mobile version. While other company such as Facebook and Myspace failed to capture a large part of the market, Twitter is confident that it will succeed.
To conquer the Japanese market Twitter teamed up with Internet firm Digital Garage Inc. that launched a Japanese-language platform for for cellphones and other mobile devices.
Even if today Twitter remains a mystery for the majority of Japanese web user, the future looks promising. Going mobile in Japan is probably the right move.
A recent survey showed that "95 percent of Japanese Twitter users accessed the service via cell phones. Mobile-based writers account for some 40 percent of regular blogging in Japan, and about a quarter of Mixi users rely on their cellphones to update their pages." The company is also experimenting new features, related to making money, such as bannner adds. Money making features are not available on the english sites.
Will the Japanese embrace Twitter?
Yukari Matsuzawa, Twitter's Japan country manager, believes it will and says that "growth will also depend on users themselves.
As Japanese people creatively start to use Twitter, it will help define what the tipping point will be. It will be a combination of excellent innovative users in Japan as well as more celebrities, as well as influential people."
The future will tell!
So far Tech geeks, Japanese celebrities, politicians, other traditional media outlet and companies are starting to sign up and looking forward to take advantage of "Twitter's marketing potential".
Source: Associated Press
