Company K is a giant company that procures approximately 20 million SIM cards annually and accounts for about half of the Japanese SIM card market. Giesecke & Devrient K.K. (GDKK) was eager to win a place among the suppliers of SIM cards to Company K. However, at that time there were already three other competing suppliers, and furthermore around 10 years previously GDKK’s parent company in Germany, Giesecke & Devrient GmbH (G&D), had turned down a request to develop SIM cards from Company K. It is easy to see that the barriers to success were high.

In 2008, taking the replacement of one of the key individuals involved in development at Company K as an opportunity, Hitachi High-Technologies actively undertook efforts to publicize the technical expertise of G&D and to promote their new products. The aim was to build understanding and trust toward G&D. Then, in 2009, Hitachi High-Technologies learned of the development of a new SIM card and proposed its adoption to Company K. This made it possible to gain supplier qualification, the first step toward being selected as a new supplier. In 2010 product specifications were obtained from Company K, and GDKK took the lead in proposing to G&D that they develop a new product in response, and securing necessary development resources.

As a result, Company K placed SIM card orders with GDKK, enabling them to capture a large share of the market. This contributed to the balance sheets of both G&D and Hitachi High-Technologies. In turn, G&D was highly impressed by the achievement of Hitachi High-Technologies in carefully laying the groundwork with Japan’s largest mobile carrier, leading to a successful sales approach and the establish- ment of GDKK as a new supplier.