Konarka Technologies Establishes Japan Office, Focus on BIPV and BAPV Segment
 October 2010 -- Konarka Technologies, Inc. develops polymer-based, organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology. Based in Lowell, Mass., the company was established in 2001 by a team of scientists from the University of Massachusetts based on technology developed by Dr. Alan Heeger, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in the year 2000. Its current focus is on the building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) and building-attached photovoltaic (BAPV) segments, and it recently opened an office in Japan to take advantage of the opportunities there. To gain insight into how the company entered the market, established an office, and operates in Japan's PV market, JETRO spoke with Shinji Kawahara, director of business development of Japan at Konarka Technologies Japan K.K.
Opportunities in Japan
Konarka sees many opportunities in the Japanese market for its OPV technology, said Mr. Kawahara. Japan is home to large photovoltaic manufacturers (Sharp, Sanyo, Kyocera), who are key targets as customers. Also key targets are building-materials suppliers who can integrate Konarka's technology into their products. Acting as catalysts to Konarka's establishment of the Japan office were investments by two Japanese companies who are now Konarka's partners. In September 2007, Konarka announced the signing of a joint agreement with Toppan Forms to bring Konarka's organic photovoltaic material, Power Plastic(R), to market. Then in March 2010, Konarka announced the signing of a comprehensive R&D collaboration and strategic investment agreement with Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. to jointly develop and distribute organic thin-film photovoltaics. Under the agreement, Konica Minolta invested $20 million in Konarka. In April 2010, Konarka established a Japan office to support these partner relationships and pursue additional opportunities for its OPV technology.
Help from JETRO and Setting Up the Office
JETRO provided Konarka with opportunities to expose their products to Japanese companies. Last year, Konarka's Vice President of Business Development in Asia, John Gui, displayed the company's products at a trade show under the JETRO Pavilion, where many Japanese companies were able to see the technology. This year, Mr. Kawahara will do the same, displaying Konarka's technology under the JETRO Pavilion at the trade show Green Device. "This is good PR, good support," he said. To set up the office, Konarka asked a rental office agency to find options in office spaces and ultimately chose to occupy a Regus serviced office for the time being.
Results and Outlook
Having recently established the office, the company is focusing on developing its business in Japan. It plans to do so using two approaches, said Mr. Kawahara. "One is to propose our OPV to customers directly, meaning current end-users like OEMs, developers or contractors. The other way is to develop combined products with building-materials suppliers, such as Tostem, YKK AP, and Sankyo Tateyama." Konarka already has several customers in Japan, due in large part to Mr. Kawahara having drawn upon his network and experiences in the building materials space, which aligns well with the company's focus on the BIPV and BAPV segments. Looking forward, Mr. Kawahara anticipates improvements in Konarka's OPV technology performance to take place over the next five years. Also anticipated is the progression of Konarka's partnership with Konica Minolta into a joint venture in 2013 to manufacture and market improved thin-film solar cells (OPV). Mr. Kawahara seeks to develop new relationships as well. "We are very open to receive and obtain a lot of requirements from other customers," he said.
Business in Japan
Addressing various aspects of doing business in Japan, Mr. Kawahara shared his observations from working for multinational companies in Japan:
Gaining new customers in each market |
In my opinion, it is the same [in both Japan and the U.S.]. But the U.S. is a broad country. Conversely, Japan is a narrow country; we can focus on the total area in order to achieve the business to gain new customers. So it is easy to contact new customers here compared to in the U.S., in terms of sales efficiency. Also, in Japan I believe people have to speak Japanese.
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Marketing or business development |
In my experience, in the U.S., both [marketing and business development] are more organized in comparison with Japan. While Japanese companies run the organization with a well organized team, the way of marketing and business development, ways of thinking and ways of approach, are not as well organized.
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Working with customers in each market |
I think Japanese customers are proud of their business style, so we need to respect that. Also, Japanese customers are very severe in terms of [demands on] product quality, prices and other related requirements, compared to other countries. Japanese customers are always requiring the best products from around the world.
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Differences in business styles |
If we take a look at the corporation itself, Japanese companies are always working as an organization. Conversely, while U.S. companies are well organized, staff member employees are working by themselves with confidence.
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Industry-specific differences |
As mentioned before, requirements from customers are very severe compared with U.S. companies. For instance, we need to submit a lot of documentation and data of our products. We need to calculate how well our OPV products work in the real environment. However, I think U.S. companies don't ask us a lot.
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Insight and Advice
Mr. Kawahara also shared the following insight and advice for being successful in Japan:
- Communication between the Japan office and headquarters is very important to accomplish business in Japan. Again, Japanese customers' requirements are very severe, so in order to achieve their business, we have to listen carefully to their needs and ask headquarters to execute and solve the requirements. Our headquarters usually provides very standard information. However, I reply requesting the specific details our customers require.
- Supply high-quality products first. Japanese customers always require the best product in the market at a lower price, so it's very tough. But I think the quality is an important factor for success.
Japan Company Profile
| Japan Company: |
Konarka Technologies Japan K.K. |
| Established: |
April 2010 |
| Employees: |
1 |
| Business: |
OPV (organic photovoltaic) technology |
| Location: |
Shinjuku Park Tower N30th Floor
3-7-1 Nishi-Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo 163-1030 Japan |
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| URL: |
http://www.konarka.com/
http://www.konarka.jp/ (coming soon) |
| Parent company: |
Konarka Technologies, Inc. |
*Note: The opinions contained in this article are based on the experiences of the interviewee. They are not representative of all experiences in Japan or working with Japanese companies, and do not reflect the opinions of JETRO.
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