Sony Corp's failure to invent its "own iPod" before the arrival of Apple Computer Inc's device should provide a lesson to other Japanese firms about the danger of being caught napping by foreign innovators, a government minister warned.
Heizo Takenaka, Japan's Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, said Apple's lead over Sony, the inventor of the Walkman, in digital music players showed the need for wider reform of business practices and regulation.
"Apple's iPod provides a pointer to future possibilities as well as a valuable lesson," Takenaka said in an interview with the Financial Times published yesterday.
Net concept
"Although it would have been natural for a Japanese electronics company to have developed the iPod, unfortunately, the concept of distributing music over the Net did not take off in Japan, so it was Apple rather than Sony that developed the iPod," he said.
Sony had indeed launched a digital player before Apple but failed to capitalize on it because of obstacles in developing the music download market in Japan, the newspaper noted.
Sony, an icon of Japan's postwar boom in technological innovation, is now struggling to reverse a slump in its fortunes by slashing 10,000 jobs as it heads for a annual loss of ¥10 billion (US$88 million).
Takenaka said that Japan's telecom and media industries needed to revamp outdated business practices and improve regulation.
This could bring a five-fold expansion in annual sales for the two markets in Japan, he estimated.
"The media market is about ¥4,000 billion, the telecoms market is ¥16,000 billion so together they are ¥20,000 billion," he said.
Fighting frantically
"Instead of continuing to fight frantically over this market, there is an opportunity to grow it to ¥40,000 billion or ¥100,000 billion."
He noted that US giant Time Warner's revenues alone were more than those of the whole Japanese media industry.
Takenaka said he had asked a special taskforce to draw up recommendations on reforming business practices and regulation by the end of June.
He believes outdated business practices, vested interests and regulatory obstacles are hindering the full development of goods and services that harness new technology and the Internet, the newspaper said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique