2001 SWAT ANALYSIS
Strengths
 J-Phone brand equity
 Highly successful parent company
 J-Phone has 3G license
 Local knowledge from J-Phone
 Vodafone has successfully entered
other foreign markets
 Vodafone has well-diversified
assets
 Well developed global supply chain
Opportunities
 Low import tariffs
 2nd largest telecom market
 Explosive growth in mobile market
 Internet
 Loyal employees (culture in Japan)
 Consumers adapt well to new
technologies
 Unattractive to switch cell phone
providers
 Aging, well to do consumer group
Weaknesses
 No experience in East Asian
markets
 Low quality phones/products
 Lagging in technology
 New to Japanese culture
 Weak Japanese wireless
infrastructure
Threats
 NTT dominance!!!
 Non-tariff trade barriers
 High consumer expectations (welleducated, technology conscious)
 Non-english consumer base
 Legal system – businesses settle
outside of court
 Recessionary market
 Inability to lay-off employees
 Challenging advertising
environment
 High corporate tax rate (compared
to UK +12%)
2005 SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
 Improved cash-flow (?)
 Adoption of international protocols
= economies of scale
 Appropriate
communications/advertising
Opportunities
 Still opportunity for growth in
market
 Forging new partnership – bundling
with fixed-line (never happened)
 Economy picking up
Weaknesses
 Unable to compete on price and
product
 Weak 3G infrastructure
 Hemorrhaging subscribers
(declining market share)
 Poor reputation – people are
ostracized if they have Vodafone
 Not adapting/customizing handsets
to market
 Rapidly declining share price (stock
to be delisted)
 Importing UK management
 Turnover in senior management
Threats
 Number portability coming in 2006
 Entry of new players (3 more
licenses)
 Regulation of pre-paid market
 Market becoming saturated