Why is the withdrawn "G'z One" revived? Ask KDDI and Casio about the birth of "G'z One TYPE-XX"

"G'z One TYPE-XX"

The G'zOne mobile phone has been revived in response to the voices of hot fans. The 4G LTE mobile phone "G'zOne TYPE-XX" commemorating the 20th anniversary of the G'zOne brand was released by au on December 10, 2021. [Image] Some of the successive G'zOne mobile phones In G'zOne TYPE-XX, KDDI, Casio Computer, and Kyocera collaborated. Casio, which withdrew from mobile phone manufacturing, was in charge of the design, and it was developed under an unusual system in which Kyocera manufactures it. We asked Mr. Takayuki Kondo, who was in charge of planning for KDDI, and Mr. Toki Ido, a designer of Casio Computer, about the secret story behind the development.

Casio also wanted to continue toughness mobile phones

――In this "G'zOne TYPE-XX", Casio has revived the G'zOne brand since it withdrew from the mobile phone business at the end of 2013. Mr. Ido First of all, I would like to take the opportunity of this interview to apologize to Casio users. As a designer at Casio, I was involved in the design direction of almost all models from the first mobile phone model "C303CA". I think that many users suddenly thought that Casio's withdrawal from the mobile phone business in 2013 was abrupt. It is until then that one manufacturer with a small market share has withdrawn, but since the first model "G'zOne C303CA" in 2000, we have been enthusiastically working on product development with the idea of ​​valuing hot fans. bottom. At the time of Casio's entry, Japanese manufacturers' mobile phones were in their prime. Casio was in a position to question the significance of its existence because it was the last to enter the market. The toughness mobile phone G'zOne is a model that is exactly like Casio, and it is also an EXILIM mobile phone that makes use of the knowledge as a digital camera maker, and even in the popular period, it is called "Heart Craft" as it is now. There may be a small number of people who have adopted values ​​such as genderless and ageless, but there are many core fans. For Casio mobile phones. When Casio withdrew, some users were wondering what to do with the next model change. In particular, many people used G'zOne for work, so I thought I was really sorry. After that, Mr. Kondo started to release a new toughness series TORQUE with Mr. Kyocera. As a personal feeling, of course I wanted to continue Casio's toughness mobile phone, but I also think that it saved me. ――I think it was a challenging initiative to revive a brand that once withdrew from a smartphone by manufacturing it from another manufacturer. Please tell us the background behind the commercialization. Mr. Kondo The reason for the commercialization was the voice of the customer. At KDDI, we are always considering listening to customers in questionnaires and group interviews as a reference for product development, but recently, we have received many comments that "the lineup of feature phones is small." I did. In a world where smartphone shifts are advancing, we continue to provide feature phones, but anyway, the lineup configuration has many general models with thin features so that many customers can pick it up. It was becoming. We received harsh voices from customers, such as "the lineup is boring", "I want a feature phone that is sharper like it used to be", and "I think I'm neglecting the feature phone". I was there.

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