Sales of the ICT industry Japan FY 2020, by business activity
Telecommunications business
The telecommunications business accounted for 34.4 percent of the ICT industry in fiscal year 2020. The mobile communications market in Japan is dominated by the three major mobile phone operators SoftBank Corp., NTT Docomo, and KDDI Corporation. While each of these companies generate several trillion yen in annual revenues, there has been an increasing competition by mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in recent years. The market share of MVNOs more than doubled between 2015 and 2021. In addition, Rakuten Mobile, which had previously operated as an MVNO, became the fourth proper mobile carrier in Japan in 2020.
Software business
With a share of 31.2 percent, the software business accounted for the second highest sales value within the ICT industry in fiscal year 2020. As of 2018, there were a total of approximately 22 thousand business enterprises in the Japanese software service industry, employing more than 707 thousand people.
Data processing and information services
The sector accounting for the third highest sales value in the industry was data processing and information services, with a share of close to 15 percent. In 2018, almost 311 thousand people were employed in the industry and around 9.9 thousand companies were engaged in this business activity.