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Tag: itochu

  • Japan AI Data Center Capacity to Quadruple by 2033 with $60 Billion Push

    Japan AI Data Center Capacity to Quadruple by 2033 with $60 Billion Push

    Japan will more than quadruple its artificial intelligence data center capacity over the next eight years through planned investments totaling $60 billion. The buildout aims to place the country directly behind the United States and China in compute scale while securing domestic data processing independence.

    Telecommunications giant NTT is driving a major share of that expansion, targeting 2 gigawatts of operational data center capacity by fiscal 2033. Trading houses and commercial operators are also stepping into the sector, including Itochu, which is preparing 10 facilities across Japan to capture surging commercial enterprise demand.

    Power Targets and Commercial Scale

    Data center developers across Tokyo and regional prefectures are racing to secure land and high-voltage grid connections required for high-density processing racks. Artificial intelligence workloads require substantially more electricity than legacy cloud hosting, forcing operators to structure long-term power purchase agreements before breaking ground.

    Japanese enterprises have accelerated their adoption of generative computing tools in supply chain planning, automated retail operations and customer service systems. Domestic infrastructure provides local businesses with lower latency and ensures sensitive corporate records stay within national borders under local privacy frameworks.

    Regional Competition and Sovereign Tech

    Across the wider Asia-Pacific region, rapid infrastructure development has sparked competing bids for power and municipal resources in key hubs such as Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea. Japan offers investors established grid stability and transparent property regulations, countering higher real estate and construction overheads.

    The investment pipeline gives enterprise software vendors and consumer brands access to dedicated domestic processing capacity that avoids overseas routing bottlenecks. What remains to be watched is how rapidly regional utility providers can deliver grid upgrades to NTT and competing operators as initial project phases break ground toward the 2033 capacity deadline.

  • Docomo, Itochu Logistics test IoT for delivery-fleet management in US

    Docomo, Itochu Logistics test IoT for delivery-fleet management in US

    Japan’s NTT Docomo and Itochu Logistics are planning to trial an IoT solution for delivery fleet management in the US.

    The solution uses devices compatible with low-power, wide-area LTE-M technology to track the status of outsourced trucks in their fleets.

    The trial will begin in the United States on May 1, 2019.

    According to the companies, the solution involves placing hand-held, battery- or solar-powered devices in trucks to collect data, such as truck locations and frequency of sudden braking, which will be sent through an LTE network to a dedicated website.

    The solution can also provide temperature, humidity, brightness, etc. data depending on delivery needs, as well as notify customers via email when the trucks approach their destinations.Itochu Logistics USA expects to save time using the solution compared to the conventional method of manually phoning drivers to confirm their locations and estimated delivery times.

    The solution will be tested for its effectiveness in supporting the management and safety of truck fleets at Itochu Logistics USA’s delivery-trick network and logistics system.

    “While most delivery trucks are equipped with GPS devices, the location data typically is available to the owner but not to logistics/transport companies that retain the trucks on an outsourced basis,” the companies said.

    “The solution’s easily deployed LTE-M devices, however, will give logistics/transport companies dedicated access to location and other useful information about trucks operating temporarily in their fleets.”

    The trial is part of the Globiot global-IoT initiative that Docomo launched on July 2, 2018.

    The Japanese mobile giant said it expects the solution will be marketed widely throughout US, Japan, and Asia.

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  • Japan’s Inagora inks agreement with Thailand’s CP

    Japan’s Inagora inks agreement with Thailand’s CP

    Japan-based e-commerce platform Inagora is teaming with Thailand’s CP (Charoen Pokphand) Group to boost its China business.

    The joint venture is also researching expansion into Southeast Asia.

    Inagora targets Chinese shoppers seeking Japanese goods. It boasts 4 million registered users and an inventory of about 40,000 SKUs, ranging from food and household goods through to more luxury items. Last year, its turnover totalled about US$98 million.

    Inagora opened a brick-and-mortar store in Zhengzhou this month as it broadens its market reach and eyes new markets. Japanese trading house Itochu and others invested about $68 million into the business last year to help fund expansion.

    By teaming with CP, whose operations include the 10,500-strong 7-Eleven convenience-store network in Thailand, Inagora hopes to start offering Chinese shoppers products from other markets. It may also look to sell Japanese and other Asian products to people living in Southeast Asia.

  • Online-payment startup Paidy bags US$55m funding

    Online-payment startup Paidy bags US$55m funding

    Japanese startup Paidy has received US$55 million to build a scheme allowing online shoppers to buys goods without a credit card.

    The series-C funding was led by Goldman Sachs and Japanese trading house Itochu Corporation

    Paidy was created because even though Japan’s credit-card penetration rate is high, their usage rate is relatively low, even for online purchases. “Instead, shoppers pay cash on delivery or at convenience stores, which function as combination logistics/payment centers in many Japanese cities.”

    While that solution is convenient for cardholders worried about fraud, it inconveniences retailers because they have to maintain a pool of cash for merchandise not paid for.

    “Paidy makes it possible for people to buy online without creating an account or using their credit cards”. Instead, if a merchant uses Paidy, its customers are able to check out by entering their mobile phone numbers and email addresses. Then Paidy authenticates them with a four-digit code sent through SMS or voice. Every month, customers settle their bills, which include all transactions they made using Paidy, at a convenience store or through bank transfers or auto-debits (installment and subscription plans are also available).

     

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  • Lippo, Itochu Explore Expanding Cooperation in Asia

    Lippo, Itochu Explore Expanding Cooperation in Asia

    James Riady, the chief executive officer of Lippo Group, one of Indonesia’s largest property conglomerates, met with Itochu chairman and chief executive Masahiro Okafuji in Tokyo on Monday to discuss ways to boost the companies’ cooperation in the regional healthcare sector.

    Lippo and Itochu are strategic joint venture partners in Lippo’s Healthcare operations outside Indonesia, covering 106 medical clinics serving 1.4 million Singaporeans, a hospital in China and 12 elderly medical facilities in Japan.

    The two business leaders discussed how to intensify their joint healthcare exposure across Asia and Indonesia, according to a statement from Lippo Group.

    Itochu is one of Japan’s largest and most profitable “sogo shosha” general trading groups with global operations and over $43 billion annual revenue in 2017 fiscal year.

    Lippo is Indonesia’s leading integrated services groups with operations in nine countries, including in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and the United States.

    Lippo’s 115,000 staff and employees serve over sixty million customers in various asset categories, including department stores, hypermarkets, malls, housing developments, hospitals, broadband and internet, technology and digital services, media, hotels, banking and financial services and township developments.

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  • Trading house Itochu taking on Alibaba and JD.com

    Trading house Itochu taking on Alibaba and JD.com

    Itochu and two partners are investing roughly 7.6 billion yen ($67.6 million) in an e-commerce venture selling Japanese goods to the Chinese market in hope to enhance its own forays into China’s internet sector.

    The Japanese trading house is investing around 4 billion yen into the Tokyo-based startup Inagora, with telecom KDDI and financial services company SBI Holdings providing the rest.

    Itochu previously invested around 100 million yen in the company and will now hold a roughly 20% stake, making it the second-largest shareholder behind founder and CEO Weng Yongbiao.

    Founded in 2014, Inagora operates Wandou, a Chinese-language e-tailer with some 3 million users.

    The site boasts around 40,000 offerings, with a focus on cosmetics, clothing and foods from brands including Japanese fashion label Samantha Thavasa, Swiss lingerie maker Triumph International and Japanese food producer Ajinomoto.

    China’s cross-border e-commerce market is growing rapidly. The market for goods from Japan is seen nearing 2 trillion yen in 2020. The country’s overall e-commerce leaders currently have a strong grip on the cross-border segment: Top player Alibaba Group Holding commands a roughly 40% share, while second-place JD.com and major internet player NetEase control shares in the 10-20% range.

    Itochu has already taken its first step into the cross-border market, launching a high-end site in spring 2017 with Chinese state-owned conglomerate Citic, a major partner.

    But the trading house has realized breaking Chinese heavyweights’ grip will require savvy marketing that can respond nimbly to consumer tastes — hence its turn to Inagora, which excels at creating videos highlighting the appeal of Japanese products for local consumers.

    The trading house will supply products for Inagora’s site through units including food wholesaling arm Nippon Access and Edwin, Japan’s largest maker of jeans. In addition, Itochu will have the site carry local specialty items from across Japan stocked by convenience store chain FamilyMart, another member of the Itochu group.

    Itochu Logistics, with over 100 locations in China, will also cooperate with Inagora, which plans to add warehouses to its own distribution network using money from the latest round of investment.

    The startup will also hire more sales staff to encourage companies to list their products. Forays elsewhere in Asia are on the agenda as well: The company plans to bring its business to Taiwan, Malaysia and elsewhere in 2018.

    Inagora anticipates around 15 billion yen in transactions this year, six times the 2016 level. With help from Itochu and others, the startup targets 100 billion yen in transactions in 2019 and 176 billion yen a year later.

  • FamilyMart Philippines chain up for auction

    FamilyMart Philippines chain up for auction

    FamilyMart Philippines convenience-store chain, partly owned by the Ayala and Tantoco groups, is up for auction.

    With about 70 stores, the Japanese chain has been offered to prospective investors in the past few months.

    Ayala Land and the Rustan’s group, via their equally owned JV firm Sial CVS Retailers, in 2012 signed a deal with FamilyMart and Itochu Corporation to develop and run FamilyMart convenience stores in the Philippines.
    FamilyMart has been closing unprofitable stores over the past 12 months.

    In the convenience store market in past six years, new brands have been challenging 7-Eleven and MiniStop, respectively run by Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC) and Robinsons Retail Holdings.

    Aside from FamilyMart, the Puregold group also brought Japan’s Lawson into the market while the SM group introduced Indonesian brand Alfamart. Meanwhile, real-estate magnate Manuel Villar has also built his own convenience-store network, All Day.

    To date, the two original brands still lead the market, with 7-Eleven surpassing 2000 outlets while Mini-Stop has at least 500 stores.

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  • Vinatex and Itochu sign strategic co-operation agreement

    Vinatex and Itochu sign strategic co-operation agreement

    Viet Nam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) on Monday signed a strategic co-operation agreement with Japanese firm Itochu, witnessed by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Ha Noi.

    Itochu is expected to help Vinatex make a change in textiles and garment production and business method from Cut—Make—Trim to Free on Board, developing a sustainable retail distribution network to enjoy long-term benefits.

    Under the agreement, trading firm Itochu will assume the role of a consulting partner for Vinatex and its member companies in developing the textiles and garment supply chain from fibre to thread, fabric and sewing, retail distribution, co-operation and introducing domestic and foreign partners.

    Shuichi Koseki, senior managing executive officer, manager of CP·CITIC Strategy Office, president of Textile Company and representative director, said Viet Nam’s textiles and garment were an important part of Itochu, therefore it wanted to develop this area with Viet Nam, so that Vinatex could become its number one partner.

    In the near future, he said Itochu would boost co-operation between the two sides to develop textiles and garment products and supply them globally.

    Speaking at the signing ceremony, Le Tien Truong, general director of Vinatex, said the two sides would discuss in detail the co-operation plan and implement actions immediately to make a change in Vinatex’s textiles and garment production and business method from Cut—Make—Trim to Free on Board, developing a sustainable retail distribution network to enjoy long-term benefits.

    Itochu signed a framework agreement to support several projects in dyeing and materials production in Viet Nam, training in the country’s dyeing sector and utilising the capacity of Vinatex’s dyeing factories in the central region in 2015.

    At that time, Itochu owned five per cent stake in Vinatex through a subsidiary company.

    Itochu, one of the leading economic groups in Japan operating in various areas, including textiles and garment, has co-operated with some 100 textiles and garment companies of Viet Nam.

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  • Wasedaya Shirt brand returns, but not in Japan

    Wasedaya Shirt brand returns, but not in Japan

    A Japanese businessman has revived the established Japanese shirt brand Wasedaya Shirt – in Vietnam.

    His first outlet is in the Aeon Mall Long Bien in Hanoi, run by Japanese retail giant Aeon and its subsidiary Aeon Mall.

    Founded in 1903, the Osaka-based company provided custom-made shirts to Japanese consumers for more than a century. The founder was a graduate of  Waseda University in Tokyo.

    However, the tailored shirts gave way to low-priced shirts, and in 1998 the company became a subsidiary of a major Japanese shirt company. Wasedaya Shirt went out of business in 2009, but trading house Itochu acquired the brand and is behind the Vietnam comeback with its textile subsidiary Prominent (Vietnam).

    “I’d like Vietnamese customers to know more about Japan’s high-quality shirts,” says Hiroshi Morita, who as president of Prominent decided to revive the label.

    Its shirts are made from fine Japanese fabrics at a factory in Japan, and carry a price tag of 1.2 million dong ($54) each. Contemporary features have been added, such as photocatalyst-based deodorant and anti-bacterial technology in collars and cuffs to suit the humid climate in Vietnam.

    Itochu set up a capital and business agreement with Vietnam Kowil Fashion last year, which has helped Wasedaya Shirt obtain data about Vietnamese body shapes and preferences.

    A second Wasedaya Shirt has been opened in Ho Chi Minh City, and Morita hopes to expand its sales network to other parts of the country as well as Cambodia – and is thinking about reimporting the shirts to Japan.

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  • LeSportsac to expand China footprint

    LeSportsac to expand China footprint

    Japanese trading house Itochu has formed a joint venture with Hong Kong based Novo Fashion Retail Group to ramp up the LeSportsac retail presence in Mainland China.

    Itochu signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Novo back in 2007 to supply LeSportsacs to outlets in major department stores and other retailers.

    This month, the two companies will launch a joint venture, its name not yet revealed,

    to focus on the LeSportsac range of casual nylon bags. Standalone stores are a possibility, given the brand’s strong appeal and name recognition in China.

    Itochu distributes the US-founded LeSportsac brand in 35 countries and Novo specialises in marketing western brands in Greater China.

    Initial plans are to double the network of stores selling LeSportsac to about 100 over the next three years, with a concentration on larger cities, and to broaden the bags’ online availability.

    The new venture is also likely to work on expanding the range to include products designed specifically for the China market, based on customer feedback.

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  • Itochu, CP Group team up with Chinese companies to set up e-commerce venture in Shanghai FTZ

    Itochu, CP Group team up with Chinese companies to set up e-commerce venture in Shanghai FTZ

    Five companies from three nations are banding together to sell imported popular household products like diapers and milk powder in China.

    The partners are Itochu, Japan’s third-largest trading house; Charoen Pokphand Group, Thailand’s biggest conglomerate; and Chinese companies CITIC, China Mobile and Shanghai Information Investment Inc.

    An agreement forming the venture, which will operate through a cross-border e-commerce website out of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, was signed yesterday.

    The venture, which is named Face to Face Co., aims to tap a growing market in China for premium foreign products. Until now, most consumers accessed such products mainly through gray market channels, expensive offshore orders, overseas trips or limited online retailers in China.

    The new system will end long waiting times for deliveries, lower prices by up to 30 percent and ensure that products meet quality standards.

    The five partners are investing US$500 million, and the company will benefit from preferential policies offered by the Free Trade Zone.

    “We predict the scale of cross-border e-commerce in China will jump from nearly 76.7 billion yuan (US$12.4 billion) in 2013 to about 1 trillion yuan by 2018, Itochu said in a statement yesterday. “We see huge demand for premium products in the country.”

    The new company plans to buy an e-platform to run its operations. It will take over online shopping mall Kuajingtong, which was formerly run by state-owned Shanghai Orient Electronic Payment Co. The partnership will take advantage of China Mobile’s vast user base in promoting online orders for goods.

    Japan’s Nikkei Newspaper reported that the new company plans to accrue sales of US$666.7 billion by 2019 and plans to list in China in 2020. The report could not be immediately verified.

    Itochu said the platform will begin operation later this year, offering nearly 100,000 Japanese-made items, including household appliances, food, diapers milk powder and possibly clothing. Charoen Pokphand said it plans to sell Thai food products on the site.

    The Free Trade Zone, launched in 2013, is China’s pilot project for freer trade between the mainland and overseas. Flexible regulations will allow access for both Chinese and overseas companies to import and sell foreign goods domestically.

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