Market Assessment

One of the barriers to doing business in Japan is that in most industries, the vast majority of the information is only available in Japanese.  The first step for many is to find out how large is the achievable market size for their product or technology in Japan, who are the incumbent competitors, what is the structure of the value chain.

We can provide a wide range of market research, from locating existing market research in Japanese, to conducting direct interviews with key market participants.  Depending on what you need, we can conduct this research independently and based on your requirements, providing you with a report summarizing the results. Alternatively, we can schedule a "fact finding tour" where you join us in meeting with the potential customers, partners and industry experts.
 

The following are the kinds of questions that we help to answer in the "market assessment" part of a project:

  1. What is the size of the market and its growth rate?
  2. What portion of the market is accessible to new entrants?
  3. What are unique local requirements for this technology or product?
  4. What are the barriers to foreign suppliers in this target market?
  5. Who are the incumbent competitors, both local as well as foreign suppliers?
  6. What is the structure of the value chain for this technology or product?
  7. Who are the key market players in this value chain?
  8. How receptive are the market players to new technology?
  9. How have similar foreign suppliers in this industry fared?

For mature industries, more information is readily available in the marketplace.  For new technologies or immature industry segments, some of this information will either be very vague or not available at all.

We can be your guide in both gathering this information, but more importantly in interpreting it within the scope of your strategy in the US and your long term global marketing plan.

 
Fact Finding Tour

There is nothing so valuable as face-to-face conversations with customers on the ground in Japan.  We can set up a tour of leaders and experts in the field, getting you direct feedback about what aspects of your product or technology most appeals in this market place.
Read more... [Fact Finding Tour]
 
Market Probe

Do you want to dip your foot in the water?  A market probe might be to set up a booth at a trade show in Japan, or it might be conducting a trial with an interested vendor.
Read more... [Market Probe]