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Despite MMS, Vodafone live! loses out to i-mode

The experiment of running the Japanese i-mode phone service in Europe looked like a flop at first. But a report suggests that it is dealing well with competition from Vodafone live! in the Netherlands.

Vodafone Netherlands was present in the first group of European subsidiaries to launch Vodafone live! on October 24, 2002, reports Telecom Paper.

A €39.00 report is available analysing the situation. It says that the outcome is surprising: the Vodafone photo-phone service looked comparable to i-mode by KPN, which was already on offer on the Dutch market back in April 2002.

In addition, says the report, Vodafone live! had a big marketing advantage over i-mode: Multimedia Messaging Service - or so it seemed. "The general opinion then was that it was just a matter of time before Vodafone live! would catch up and outrun i-mode in subscriber base numbers," says the report.

And indeed, after the first five months, it looked as if Vodafone had triumphed. "The number of live!-customers is estimated to be approximately 50,000 in the Netherlands, much better than i-mode after five months in terms of percentage as well as in subscriber base numbers."

KPN however bounced back. "It was able to boost i-mode sales between the fifth and eighth months. And at the end of June 2003, Vodafone live! has been present in the Netherlands also for eight months, but is estimated to have been outsold."

The report can be ordered online direct from the publisher.