Twitter Launches Mobile Services in Japan & India

16 October 2009 12 Comments

On Thursday, a mobile version of the popular social networking website Twitter was launched for Japanese users, according to an article written by the Associated Press. In an effort to build a bridge with other nations, Twitter also had launched SMS communication for India on Tuesday, which they believe could bring in over 100 million new potential users. While these deals may not be the prettiest of negotiations, they are essential if Twitter hopes to become an international phenomenon.

The new mobile version comes as a component for those who regularly tweet from Japan. Many of the Japanese features are not compatible or fully functional with the English mobile website, but with the new service, Japanese users can rely on the actual website instead of using third-party applications that support their needs. Still, tweeting in Japan has not become a significant part of the website. Statistics show that less than one million people use the service and very few celebrities have an account. Plus, culture-related concerns like contacting strangers are not popular with many of the people, which may be a cause for concern in the future.

As far as India’s new SMS deal is concerned, this may actually end up being the bigger of the two stories. Mobile consumers in India do not have a data plan, which means they cannot use third-party applications like TweetDeck, etc. Although texting in updates will still cost India users money, receiving SMS updates is completely free, which is great news for those who really want to start tweeting but don’t believe they can ever really use it to its full potential.

Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone said: “There are over one billion people with internet access on the planet but there are more than four billion people with mobile phones and Twitter can work on all of them because even the simplest of these devices feature SMS.” This is key for future development, and if Twitter truly wants to become the epicenter of social communication, they must utilize all tools they have access to.