axxxr
Joined: Mar 21, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Londinium
PM, WWW
|
Via: Yahoo News
Mobile phones in Japan have become a crucial identity statement, with accessories like straps, antenna rings, photo stickers and fake gems reflecting the owner's personality.
Seeing a widow of opportunity, designer houses such as Hermes International, Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton have added mobile phone straps to their collections with prices as high as $300.
It's difficult to pinpoint the exact size of the market for mobile phone accessories, but StrapYa, Japan's largest online mobile phone accessory store, estimates the novelty accessory market alone is worth about 6 billion yen ($57.34 million).
Phone makers are also catching on to the personalisation trend, and are trying to move it beyond simple accessories to the phone itself.
"Until now users have tried to personalise their phones with straps and stickers, but they're at a point where they want to personalise the phone itself," said Miho Takagi, a spokeswoman for Panasonic's marketing team. "They get bored of their phones two or three months after they've bought it, but they're too expensive to change frequently."
Apart from phoneplates, Takagi says other parts of the phone can be personalised, including the area around the screen, keypad colour and even the phone's backside. "The potential for customising the mobile phone itself is endless," she added.
[addsig] |
Posted: 2004-12-20 16:51
Wow 1550+ posts.... 
