

IPhone takes 72% of Japanese smartphone market - stanleydrew
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/04/23/apple_iphone_takes_72_of_japanese_smartphone_market.html

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procrastinatus
That's 72% of the approximately 4~5% that smartphones represent of the
Japanese phone market.

[http://whatjapanthinks.com/2009/05/30/smartphones-not-
impres...](http://whatjapanthinks.com/2009/05/30/smartphones-not-impressing-
many-in-japan/)

As others have pointed out, virtually all "dumb" phones in Japan support email
and network. The clamshell form's keypad is comparable, if not superior, to
mobile querty keyboards for typing Japanese language text. A sizable number
(perhaps even a majority) of "dumb" phones also support streaming television,
a contact-less payment chip, GPS, music playback, an app store.

I find the 4~5% (mostly foreign designed) smartphone percentage a lot more
interesting to think about.

~~~
minouye
Also interesting are the implications for Softbank (the exclusive carrier for
the iPhone in Japan). They'll definitely keep taking market share away from
NTT Docomo as they continue to offer innovative devices and compelling
pricing.

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jws
This would be a good test for a "pundit tracker". Before the iPhone was
available in Japan a popular theme was that Japan already has great stuff and
the iPhone might get a boost from the halo effect, but that it wouldn't be
special. 72% seems pretty special.

e.g.

wrong: [http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/15/iphone-apple-japan-tech-
wir...](http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/15/iphone-apple-japan-tech-wireless-
cx_ew_0115appljap.html)

wrong: [http://www.tuaw.com/2007/12/19/docomo-to-carry-iphone-in-
jap...](http://www.tuaw.com/2007/12/19/docomo-to-carry-iphone-in-japan/)

right:
[http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/news/2008/06/japan_pho...](http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/news/2008/06/japan_phones)

~~~
sunchild
Don't get too excited. iPhone is not very popular in Japan. You rarely see one
there.

~~~
teejae
As someone who lives in Tokyo, I beg to differ at this point in time. Last
year, there were not many people holding iPhones on trains. Now, it's quite
widespread.

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sunchild
This makes no sense to me at all. Almost no one uses iPhone in Japan in my
experience. Just about everyone is using the standard long-rectangular
clamshell form factor.

This article has to be wrong.

Update: Aha, probably comes down to "smartphone" semantics. Meh.

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hugh3
I haven't been to Japan for about seven years, but I get the impression that
their "dumb" phones are almost as fully-featured as our smartphones. If there
were only ~2 million smartphones sold there last year this would seem to imply
that they're not heavily into the whole smartphone thing. Can anyone comment?

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sh1mmer
This headline is misleading.

They currently have 72% of sales not the market. There are a lot of "legacy"
smart phone devices in Japan.

That said, capturing 72% of new sales is huge.

~~~
bobbyi
That's what the market is. The market for cellphone _applications_ may include
the entire installed base of phones, but by definition the "smartphone market"
means people buying and selling smartphones.

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h4n
To put things in perspective, iPhones were 4.9% of all new phones for 2009
([http://asiajin.com/blog/2010/04/23/iphone-2009-takes-4-9-sha...](http://asiajin.com/blog/2010/04/23/iphone-2009-takes-4-9-share-
in-japan/))

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spoiledtechie
At least for once, we are exporting to a country like Japan other than just
our food. Even tho I dislike the totalitarian regime of Apple, I am happy to
see U.S. Technology in another country.

~~~
brianobush
well, we are exporting technology, the actual phone itself comes from china -
where all apple products are manufactured.

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louislouis
A related and interesting question which I was just discussing with my friend
the other day.. It seems japan is and has for a long been years ahead with
their mobile phones and other technology. Why is it then that they haven't
dominated foreign markets too? Why does it take so long for their tech to
reach the rest of the world? Anyone know?

