“Although there were teething pains associated with using an iPhone in Japan at first, the product’s breakthroughs were no less revolutionary here. Apple’s brand was already very strong, and the iPhone was always going to find at least some audience among Japan’s affluent, tech-savvy consumers,” Sam Byford writes for The Verge. “But it wouldn’t have reached critical mass without some extremely aggressive moves from its initial carrier partner, SoftBank.”
“SoftBank secured exclusive rights to the iPhone in Japan much like AT&T did in the US. Japanese carriers, however, were traditionally far more involved in the development of phones, and Japan’s two biggest — KDDI and the dominant NTT Docomo — refused to sell the iPhone for years,” Byford writes. “This gave SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, a longtime friend and admirer of Steve Jobs, an opening to differentiate his also-ran network. Son deployed audacious pricing and smart marketing campaigns to position the iPhone as an exotic, advanced, and attainable device. I got my 3G in 2009 for essentially nothing via a campaign called ‘iPhone for everybody.'”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Kakumei-teki!
SEE ALSO:
SoftBank and Saudi Arabia settled their differences to create world’s biggest tech fund; $100 billion fund has won Apple’s commitment – May 19, 2017
SoftBank scraps $100 million investment in Android creator Andy Rubin’s ‘iPhone killer’ startup due to Apple pressure – March 20, 2017
Apple invests $1 billion in SoftBank’s massive tech fund; may help company get in President Trump’s good graces – January 4, 2017
Apple in talks to invest $1 billion in SoftBank tech fund – December 13, 2016
Softbank to invest $50 billion in the U.S., create 50,000 new tech jobs after meeting with President-elect Trump – and Apple supplier Foxconn is in on the deal – December 6, 2016
President-elect Trump invites tech leaders to roundtable in Manhattan next week – December 6, 2016
President-elect Trump meets with Apple board member Al Gore at Trump Tower in Manhattan – December 5, 2016
President-elect Trump tells Apple CEO Tim Cook that he’d like to see Apple make products in the U.S. – November 23, 2016
President-elect Trump says Apple CEO Tim Cook called him after election victory – November 22, 2016
Apple could make iPhones in the U.S.A. under President Trump, sources say – November 17, 2016
Japan’s Softbank just became one of Apple’s most important suppliers – July 18, 2016
Does the author still live here in Japan? At the end of the article he mentions ApplePay not working here and then ends the article…… Apple Pay is indeed here. And while it is not (yet) as ubiquitous as Felica/Suica/Nanaco et al, it is here and being ‘pushed’.
With Android N seems Google is raising the bar on emoji design. 😛
https://www.theverge.com/2016/4/16/11441876/android-n-new-emoji-closer-look
Also a changelog if anyone is interested in all the changes including upcoming occupation gender selection support.
http://blog.emojipedia.org/android-7-0-emoji-changelog/
Wonder if Android providing a middle finger with an umlaut emoji would make Botty switch.
aka…”Real artists flip!”
Google and Raising the bar should never ever be used in the same sentence. ( Except for this one of course.)
Double lol. High art!
I rarely use those teeny symbol thingies. I’ve been sufficiently challenged by having to choose accurately from the usual alphanumeric characters.
And emoji still sounds to me like something you adjust under the hood of a car before cranking up the gizmo.