Koji Kabumoto (left), President and Representative Director, and Yusei Tanaka (right), Executive Vice President and Director
It's been 14 years since we first started providing corporate SMS services in Japan in 2011. SMS is projected to reach 4 billion messages annually in fiscal year 2022, with a market size exceeding 20 billion yen. There was a particularly strong demand for SMS during the pandemic, especially for contacting and monitoring COVID-19 patients self-isolating at home. Furthermore, its ease of authentication and notification stands out among various messaging methods. While continued demand for "contact and notification" services is expected in diverse fields, including finance, the low barriers to entry mean the entire industry faces fierce price competition. In the SMS messaging business, while the number of messages sent is expected to continue expanding, the decline in unit prices for SMS carriers is projected to make it a less profitable business
The number of client companies, which was just over 800 in 2019, has now exceeded 5,000, and the entire group has grown to over 10,000. While we are competing for the top market share in terms of the number of messages delivered, the decline in profitability is an industry-wide problem, and we have determined that it will be extremely difficult to survive in the future with only the telecommunications services business, including SMS. Although we led the market in the early days of SMS, we have determined that in order to secure a new revenue base in addition to our existing business and guarantee the future of the company, we must improve corporate value by developing new businesses. Our
medium-term management plan, formulated in 2022, was based on the premise that we are an SMS business company, and considering the turning point in the SMS business market, the chaotic social situation and economic environment, we have determined that it is essential to revise this medium-term management plan, and have worked on formulating and developing a new plan that aims to create a new Akrit that will respond to the next generation.
With the rapid evolution and widespread adoption of industrial technologies such as generative AI and AGI, our society is at a major crossroads. Even as AI and AGI (and beyond to ASI) become commonplace in all fields, real-world human communication will remain. Furthermore, to prevent the misuse of generative AI, such as deepfakes, the development of "originator profiles" to combat misinformation is progressing, demonstrating that some form of real-world authentication process is always necessary when people interact with information. Moreover, companies will likely use AI and AGI to reduce the ROI of communication costs from the perspective of optimization and efficiency.
In the context of industrial evolution driven by the spread of AI, Acrit will re-evaluate its position and, based on its past business experience and information gathering, move beyond SMS alone to embark on a game-changing move towards creating new corporate value.
While we aim to create new corporate value through "telecommunication services" plus something extra, what Acrit always pursues as its vision is "a strong bond between people." Even in a digital society, and especially because it is a digital society, we will not forget our commitment to pursuing services that create "real bonds" that lead to "peace of mind," "safety," "trust," and "comfort." Adding "AI for Real" as a new theme, in the sense of how to actively utilize AI, which will be a key to the times and the next generation, in the real world, we will continue to take on the challenge of "growth through solving social issues" as a company
