Requests from High-Volume Senders to Lower Per-Message Rates and Intensifying Price Competition

「The market was disrupted through last year by price competition caused by new entrants, including carrier-affiliated companies, into the limited market. As both service providers and users reassess the situation, the market is returning to a more measured approach.」

「In the domestic SMS market, per-message pricing continued to trend downward due to price competition with competitors, while SMS messaging volumes continued to increase, reaching 109% of the year-earlier level.」

「During the current interim consolidated accounting period, per-message pricing in the domestic SMS market continued to trend downward due to price competition with competitors, while SMS messaging volumes continued to increase, reaching 131% of the year-earlier level. For SMS messaging through overseas aggregators, the business environment for both messaging volumes and per-message pricing remains challenging, partly because major carrier-affiliated companies entered the service in which competitors had begun operating in earnest during the previous consolidated fiscal year.」

「The domestic SMS market is expected to continue growing in terms of message volumes, but per-message pricing has continued to decline as price competition intensifies following competitor entry. The same applies to SMS messaging to Japan through overseas aggregators, where competition on pricing to gain market share has intensified further since telecommunications carriers began entering the SMS market directly after the COVID-19 pandemic.」

「The decline in per-message pricing has continued due to price competition following competitor entry, leaving revenue and operating profit under pressure. The Group recognizes that promptly addressing the issue to avoid being drawn into price competition is a challenge.」

「The decline in per-message pricing has continued due to price competition following competitor entry, leaving revenue and operating profit under pressure. The Group recognizes that addressing the issue promptly to avoid being drawn into price competition is a challenge.」

「The market environment for the Group's principal business, domestic messaging services, is expected to continue growing in terms of SMS messaging volumes. The domestic direct-connect market is forecast to reach 14.07713 billion messages in 2026 (Mick IT Report, October 2022, Mick Research Institute of Economics, Deloitte Tohmatsu), representing a compound annual growth rate of 40.3% from fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2026. However, in the domestic direct-connect network, lower messaging prices resulting from increasingly prominent competitor entry have caused revenue and operating profit growth to diverge from messaging-volume growth, and the Group recognizes that addressing this issue as quickly as possible is a challenge.」

「Meanwhile, the market environment has become increasingly challenging, due to lower selling prices per message resulting from price competition with competitors and competitors entering SMS messaging services through overseas SMS aggregators.」

「To achieve further revenue growth, the company states that although the market environment for SMS messaging services has become increasingly challenging, due to lower selling prices per message resulting from price competition with competitors and competitors entering the SMS messaging services market through overseas SMS aggregators, the domestic market is expected to continue expanding,」

「Regarding delivery through overseas SMS aggregators, low-cost overseas grey delivery routes existed as competing routes alongside the authorised domestic delivery routes provided by the company. As price competition intensified, the company reorganised unprofitable business partners and changed its pricing scheme. Although revenue initially declined, the high delivery and open rates were reassessed, message volumes, which had been declining, entered a recovery trend, and overseas revenue performed steadily.」

「Regarding delivery through overseas SMS aggregators, low-cost overseas grey delivery routes existed as competing routes alongside the authorised domestic delivery routes provided by the company. Price competition intensified, but after the company reorganised unprofitable business partners and changed its pricing scheme, message volumes, which had been declining, entered a recovery trend, and overseas revenue increased significantly year on year.」

「Since 2019, the company has focused on profitability and dependable, secure service, and has eliminated unprofitable business partners and changed its pricing scheme. As a result, messaging volumes, which had been declining, have been trending toward recovery, while overseas revenue also increased significantly year on year.」

「Since the second quarter of the previous fiscal year, the company has focused on profitability and dependable, secure service, and has eliminated unprofitable business partners and changed its pricing scheme. As a result, messaging volumes, which had been declining, have been trending toward recovery since the third quarter and increased year on year.」

「In addition to the domestic authorized delivery routes we provide, low-cost overseas gray-market delivery routes existed as competitors to the delivery routes, intensifying price competition and contributing to the delivery of phishing SMS.」

「In addition to the domestic authorized delivery routes we provide, low-cost overseas gray-market delivery routes existed as competitors to the delivery routes, intensifying price competition and contributing to the delivery of phishing SMS.」

「Although messaging volumes through overseas SMS aggregators increased in areas such as SMS messaging for personal authentication in cashless payment services and ride-hailing apps, some messaging for global IT companies, including GAFA companies, became unprofitable due to price competition, reducing SMS messaging volumes and resulting in declines both year on year and quarter on quarter.」

「Meanwhile, although message volumes through overseas SMS aggregators increased for cashless payment services and SMS delivery used for individual authentication on ride-hailing apps, volumes for some global IT companies, including GAFA companies, declined due to unprofitable business caused by price competition, resulting in decreases both year on year and quarter on quarter.」

「Some transactions became unprofitable due to price competition, and messaging volumes declined as a result, leading to decreases both year on year and quarter on quarter.」

「Meanwhile, price competition also appears to be intensifying, including requests from some companies that send messages in high volumes to reduce per-unit pricing.」