No.12   August 1, 2000   The Future of the Interactive Digital Media Industry   Toshitada NAGUMO        The interactive digital media industry has expanded rapidly on the back of the Internet and is expected to grow fivefold during the next five years, driven mainly by e-commerce and an infrastructure consisting of mobile phones, video game machines, broadband fixed-rate Internet services, and digital broadcast satellites.    The industry can be divided into eight different layers and is becoming increasingly integrated vertically. The most important of these are the roles of aggregator, portal and back office, all of which rely heavily on customer management. Companies hoping to become key players in the industry will have to develop a strategy for each of these layers as part of their overall management strategy. Contents I The Interactive Digital Media Industry Enters a Growth Mode II The Japanese Market Expected to Lead to Greater Internet Access by Means Other Than Personal Computers 1 The Role of a Diverse Infrastructure in Creating an Interactive Digital Media Industry 2 Mobile Phones and Video Game Consoles to Act as Drivers 3 The Effect of Fixed-Rate Broadband Internet Access on Internet Usage Patterns 4 Digital BS Set to Become the Key Type of Broadcasting Infrastructure 5 The Importance of User-Friendliness and Brand Image III Customer Management the Key to Interactive Digital Media 1 An Eight-Layer Interactive Digital Media Industry 2 Vertical Cooperation Between Different Industries 3 The Limitations of Hardware and the Communications Infrastructure 4 Considerable Development Potential of Aggregators, Portals and Back-Office Functions 5 The Importance of the Customer Management Function IV The Dominance of Vertical Integration 1 Japan at the First Stage of Vertical Integration 2 The United States at the Start of the Second Stage V Customer Management Holds the Key to the Future GO to PDF