“Softbank didn’t disclose exactly how many of those new contracts were for Apple’s iPad, launched at the end of May, and iPhone 4, which hit Japan June 24 – it never does. But it’s a safe bet the must-have gizmos were a major factor in attracting the crowds, meaning Softbank has gained about three-quarters of a million new subscribers in the last three months,” Maxwell reports. “Softbank has been selling Apple’s iPhones since 2008 and is the exclusive service provide — so far.”
Maxwell reports, “According to Tokyo-based MM Research Institute Ltd., the iPhone sold 1.7 million units in Japan, or 72% of all smartphones sold, in the fiscal year ended March 31 – pre-iPhone 4. Its popularity has pushed the smartphone segment to double in size from a year earlier.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: 血風呂!
haha MDN take
Another day another milestone.
iPad rules OK!
um, from what I understand many of the previous iPhones over there were practically given away… Not sure about the iPhone 4 but my friend keeps telling me that they have to give the iPhone away with special package plans etc to move product (in the past). I don’t know what to believe at this point.
It’s looking grim for the Japanese smart phone market. They used to be one of the best tech innovators but not anymore. Sony & Nintendo should make a phone & a portable not unlike the iPod Touch & iPhone with an app/game store before it’s too late!
Steve516,
Apple’s iPhone has 72% of Japan’s smartphone market.
That’s all you need to know to know that your friend is full of shit.
Superior Being is correct in his superior comment. However can anyone tell me why only a couple million smartphones were sold last financial year in a population of over a 100 million tech mad people or are their definition of smartphones differ somewhat from what for instance Nokia would.
Japan and Korea have tons of advanced phones. The issue is that they are advanced feature phones, not smartphones. So, Apple launched its iPhone in Korea last November where the installed base of smartphones was only 500k. Within 6 months Apple had sold 500k iPhones, essentially doubling the market from 6 months before, and starting the transition from feature phones to smartphones in Korea. The same is happening in Japan. Most phones are advanced feature phones not smartphones. It’s not surprising that Softbank had to offer attractive deals to get converts. As for your friend, he’s a consumer and he’s kind of like the Windows person here in the US. His knowledge of what is actually going on with Apple and Macs is usually just the usual FUD he’s heard. Your friend in Japan probably heard that Softbank was giving away the iPhone, and that’s all he knows.
I’m not so sure that you can classify the domestic phone industry as hi-tech. Now all the people on the train with their clam shell phones pushing buttons look really old fashioned to me. I see iPhones everywhere.
The latest ‘innovation’ that I saw was a clam shell phone with interchangeable keypads, to fit your mood, advertised by the latest boy band. I’m sure that that the buggy whip industry had plenty of innovations as well in their dying days.
血風呂! Tambien
やっぱり！ソフトバンクの方がいいですね。ねー先にドコモが最高だったけど、今ソフトバンクです！
It’s not surprising that Softbank had to offer attractive deals to get converts.
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