Needless to say, cutting component costs was an important key for gaining market share and spreading IP telephony. The positive cycle of product cost reduction promoting such widespread deployment of broadband VoIP, and consequently contributing to the further reduction of cost was beginning the deployment of gateway for broadband providers into the market. Many exclusive parts were commercialized anticipating the expansion of the IP telephony market from major device vendors to startup ventures. Price competition for parts also picked up heat. VoIP exclusive LSIs with built-in CPU such as ARM or MIPS as the core were commercialized one after the other and the selection range of parts widened drastically for device developers.

When looking back, however, there were a number of pitfalls. The lesson I learned based on my experiences at the time are summarized into the three items below.

(1) Don't trust anything that is not working. The fact is important.

Ever since the beginning of 2002, anticipation for the growth of the VoIP market heightened in the industry and we were visited by many part vendors like mushrooms after a summer rain. Some of the VoIP exclusive parts proposed were superb in that they were low in price, rich in functions, and designed with scrupulous care. Specifications and costs were satisfactory and the product roadmaps contained many proposals that were appealing.

However, some just did not live up to their expectations. Even after deciding to use a particular product drawn by the appealing proposal, it would not be delivered on time. Or it would be delivered but would not operate as advertised. Or it would operate but would not output the needed performance. After months of such disappointments, there were times that we gave up and decided to use something else.

Although this can be said for both hardware and software, it is important that they actually "work." No matter how good the architecture or concept, there is the need to seriously reconsider those that are yet working. This simple fact of something working correctly is extremely important for commercialization of any new technologies.

(2) The product is controllable. Find a partner willing to disclose weaknesses

Even when meeting the device specifications and interface conditions, there is a possibility that problems will occur when operating in a real user environment. This is especially true for services of the unknown area such as IP telephony. There were products that passed the shipment judgment and released into the market with confidence but encountered unexpected problems.