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Japanese Mobile Carriers to Offer iPhone 5s Free On Contract Through Special Promotions

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Japanese mobile carriers NTT DoCoMo, SoftBank, and KDDI are all set to offer the 16GB version of the iPhone 5s for free with a two-year contract, marking the first time that all three major carriers in the country will carry Apple's flagship mobile device, reports CNET. Each carrier plans to offer the phone for free with discounts that enable the special pricing, with DoCoMo offering rewards points for users who bring in used iPhones from SoftBank or KDDI.

Japanese business newspaper Nikkei [Google Translate] has provided a comparison chart of the iPhone plans on the three major Japanese carriers:
5s_japan_chart.png
In July, it was reported that DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile carrier, lost a total of 3.2 million users over the last four-and-a-half years as it had yet to reach a deal with Apple to finally offer the iPhone after its two chief rivals, Softbank and KDDI have done so. However, a report surfaced earlier this month that the carrier would finally be carrying the iPhone, after DoCoMo CEO Kazuto Tsubouchi cited "compelling reasons" to reach a long-illusive deal the month before.

Apple began pre-orders for the lower-cost iPhone 5c in 10 countries, including Japan, on September 13, and will offer the iPhone 5s in store and for online order on September 20th.

Article Link: Japanese Mobile Carriers to Offer iPhone 5s Free On Contract Through Special Promotions
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/09/16/japanese-mobile-carriers-to-offer-iphone-5s-free-on-contract-through-special-promotions/
Klae17

Klae17

macrumors 65816
Jul 15, 2011
1,227
1,578
I guess over 3 million customers leaving is compelling enough.
 
N

nemanjaj

macrumors newbie
Dec 31, 2010
12
0
Translation:

Fruit of the terminal quality burden: Actual burden for the device (Actual amount paid)
Straight-line data communication fee: Flat-rate data communication fee
In Service: The amount of money offered for the brought in device.
and the meaning of the values is that it is "up to 20,000" - not "20,000 up")

Source: live in japan
 
A

apfeljonas

macrumors regular
Nov 28, 2012
151
0
Germany
jayducharme said:
I wonder how long it takes for it to ripen...

Is this the first time that a new Apple flagship phone has been offered for free (on contract)? I don't know of any other carrier that's ever done that.
Click to expand...

Plenty of European carriers do that. In Germany for example, Deutsche Telekom has been doing 1 Euro iPhones ever since the first one was released. It just depends on how expensive your service plan is, the cheaper 30 Euros ones will obviously not ship the iPhone for free but on the 70 Euro ones you can get a top of the line for free (or one euro which is basically nothing). 3rd party resellers telco can "even" do for free.
 
kdarling

kdarling

macrumors P6
Jun 9, 2007
17,373
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First university coding class = 47 years ago
jayducharme said:
Is this the first time that a new Apple flagship phone has been offered for free (on contract)? I don't know of any other carrier that's ever done that.
Click to expand...

When the iPhone first went on sale in Japan, it barely sold, even subsidized down to ~$235. It only gained about 2% market share.

So in early 2009, Softbank started offering it for free, which finally kickstarted things and its share has grown ever since.
 
macs4nw

macs4nw

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Sep 21, 2010
4,336
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Next-door from the little old lady from Pasadena..
MacRumors said:
…..Japanese mobile carriers NTT DoCoMo, SoftBank, and KDDI are all set to offer the 16GB version of the iPhone 5s for free with a two-year contract, marking the first time that all three major carriers in the country will carry Apple's flagship mobile device, reports CNET. Each carrier plans to offer the phone for free with discounts that enable the special pricing, with DoCoMo offering rewards points for users who bring in used iPhones from SoftBank or KDDI…..
Click to expand...

Where is the catch? But at any rate more proof --if any was needed-- that competition benefits the consumer.

In July, it was reported that DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile carrier, lost a total of 3.2 million users over the last four-and-a-half years as it had yet to reach a deal with Apple to finally offer the iPhone after its two chief rivals, Softbank and KDDI have done so. However, a report surfaced earlier this month that the carrier would finally be carrying the iPhone, after DoCoMo CEO Kazuto Tsubouchi cited "compelling reasons" to reach a long-illusive deal the month before…..

Article Link: Japanese Mobile Carriers to Offer iPhone 5s Free On Contract Through Special Promotions
Click to expand...

DoCoMo finally saw the light, and did what was in their best interest. And good for Apple in not opening the door to giving in to more carrier control with it's inherent customization and bloatware. That, in addition to opening a can of worms with regards to their dealings with other carriers, would have meant the end of a uniform user experience for all iPhone users regardless of carrier, and was a 'door' Apple could not, and would not open.
 
yusukeaoki

yusukeaoki

macrumors 68030
Mar 22, 2011
2,550
6
Tokyo, Japan
Trust me, Japan is expensive for little phones like this.
Even with a 2 year contract, a phone costs nearly 800USD.
I bought my HTC One in Japan in June for 820USD.
However there are discounts for users who use them for 2 years and it became pretty much free.
With minimum usage, it costs 8000yen (80USD) every month.
Buying a brand new iPhone would cost around 800USD here as well.
 
B

buzz0

macrumors newbie
Jan 8, 2012
10
0
JP
yusukeaoki said:
Trust me, Japan is expensive for little phones like this.
Even with a 2 year contract, a phone costs nearly 800USD.
I bought my HTC One in Japan in June for 820USD.
However there are discounts for users who use them for 2 years and it became pretty much free.
With minimum usage, it costs 8000yen (80USD) every month.
Buying a brand new iPhone would cost around 800USD here as well.
Click to expand...

Right. iPhones' list price is expensive as well as the other smartphones like HTC, Galaxy. But iPhone is one of the cheapest phones in Japan because of discounts.
By the way, my brother use iPhone 4S and pay only $30 per month. This $30 is not only for iPhone device, it includes everything: Data fee, Call fee, Text fee and iPhone device.(He doesn't use mobile network for data:p. It costs!)

However, from iPhone 5, carriers set higher Data fee for LTE. +$10.
Still cheap though.
 
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