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Apple Announces Japanese New Year Promotion With Limited-Edition AirTag
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Missed opportunity to put the Japanese flag logo on it instead of a stupid bunny.
That's no dum Bunny 🎎👀 it's a proud rabbit🐇
Because it would look like Leica logo from a distance 😛
From Apple proper, we pretty much just see 1) some slight Black Friday sales and 2) summer throw-ins like gift cards for verified students with a computer purchase in the US. Like this (kawaii) AirTag promotion, they often exclude newer products on such promotions.
Most deals here are through other retailers. Apple does have conditions on sales as part of their reseller agreements (many companies do now), so it is more common to see a third party retailer throw in a gift card of their own then mark more than say $10 USD off a $500 product.
we don't have many good deals. Retail stores give 1 2 percent points. full price messed up for us.
For those that are Japanese, please educate us Americans, I genuinely want to learn. Isn't there luck tied to your birth-year associated animal? And are the Apple products tied to the free AirTag promotion popular there?
If they are not popular products, it almost feels manipulative on Apple's part to give away what they are (year of the rabbit AirTags), but you have to buy certain products to get it. Can you buy the rabbit AirTags separately?
Let me know if I don't know what I'm talking about....
If they are not popular products, it almost feels manipulative on Apple's part to give away what they are (year of the rabbit AirTags), but you have to buy certain products to get it. Can you buy the rabbit AirTags separately?
Let me know if I don't know what I'm talking about....
Painful. even with the gift card, the stuff is still more expensive than it was in July before Apple hiked their prices between 25 and 30% depending on item... Moreover, as someone else mentioned, the cards are only for people who buy the least popular products...
What's worse is the Yen has recovered to where it was in July when Apple hiked prices, but of course the prices have not gone back to pre hike levels.
This sort of malarkey is why sales of iPhones have declined 69% in Japan since the heady iPhone 12 days when Apple had a nearly 60% (>55% according to a Nikkei Financial Times report) hold on the smartphone market.
Of my 100+ customers here in Tokyo, whom I polled, not a single one has purchased an iPhone 14 or 14 pro series phone...
Most are sticking with their 11 pros or 12 pros. There are a few (about 30%) who have an iPhone 13.
The Apple Watch Ultra, by contrast is very popular, with many replacing series 4 and 5 devices.
Birth Year Animals (Animal signs) are used as simple horoscopes, like birth months (star signs) in the west.
There is also some sort of camaraderie with others of the same sign, be it the same year or 12 years earlier/later, called Isshu, or one revolution.
Also, as mentioned above, the items tied to the promotion are the ones still on the shelves in great numbers. Not popular at all... I rarely see iPhone SEs, AirPods, Apple Watch SEs. Although I believe the iPhone SE is slightly more popular than usual this year due to the insane prices.
Currently, none of the Apple products are in high demand and all are in stock in most local electronics stores. The only sold out models are the 14 pro and pro max, but this is due to worldwide stock shortages rather than great sales.
This is the worst year for apple in Japan I've seen in a long time, and I think the figures will be dire when they are released in April, the end of the Japanese fiscal year.
What's worse is the Yen has recovered to where it was in July when Apple hiked prices, but of course the prices have not gone back to pre hike levels.
This sort of malarkey is why sales of iPhones have declined 69% in Japan since the heady iPhone 12 days when Apple had a nearly 60% (>55% according to a Nikkei Financial Times report) hold on the smartphone market.
Of my 100+ customers here in Tokyo, whom I polled, not a single one has purchased an iPhone 14 or 14 pro series phone...
Most are sticking with their 11 pros or 12 pros. There are a few (about 30%) who have an iPhone 13.
The Apple Watch Ultra, by contrast is very popular, with many replacing series 4 and 5 devices.
Birth Year Animals (Animal signs) are used as simple horoscopes, like birth months (star signs) in the west.
There is also some sort of camaraderie with others of the same sign, be it the same year or 12 years earlier/later, called Isshu, or one revolution.
Also, as mentioned above, the items tied to the promotion are the ones still on the shelves in great numbers. Not popular at all... I rarely see iPhone SEs, AirPods, Apple Watch SEs. Although I believe the iPhone SE is slightly more popular than usual this year due to the insane prices.
Currently, none of the Apple products are in high demand and all are in stock in most local electronics stores. The only sold out models are the 14 pro and pro max, but this is due to worldwide stock shortages rather than great sales.
This is the worst year for apple in Japan I've seen in a long time, and I think the figures will be dire when they are released in April, the end of the Japanese fiscal year.
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Why not the "old" models? If they have the inventory and are trying to get rid of them...? And why do you care, if you're not even in Japan to enjoy this promotion?
Bruh.
ok? why not the new models? if they have the inventory and are trying to boost their sales...? And why do you care, if you're not even in japan to enjoy this promotion?
bruh.
Why can't Apple do the same promotion in the US? The special edition AirTags would sell well.
Wonder if Apple will do a similar promotion for its Beats brand as it did last year, hopefully Stateside...
Lunar New Year Special Edition Beats Studio Buds (Tiger)
Wonder if Apple will do a similar promotion for its Beats brand as it did last year, hopefully Stateside...
Lunar New Year Special Edition Beats Studio Buds (Tiger)
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Yes but I would want to be able to buy them straight out since I don't need a new iPhone right now.
This is a far cry from the good ol' days of Apple Japan.
One of the New Year's customs in Japan is the Fukubukuro or "Lucky Bag." Many retail stores do this for the New Year. The idea is that you x amount of yen for a bag (or box) and it will come with goods that are at least equal to the price you paid for the bag.
Apple, being Apple, really took this to the next level. I worked for Apple Retail for a number of years and had the opportunity to witness this first hand both as an employee and as a customer.
One year I flew to Japan for New Years just for this event. I camped out overnight in the freezing cold with hundreds of other Japanese and foreigners. A lot of camaraderie in the line. In the morning, we were handed wrist bands. Got inside and bought a Lucky Bag for $350. I received a custom designed Incase backpack (that I still use), a special Japanese designed UE Boom, a battery pack, a set of Beats earbuds, and a $50 iTunes Gift Card. My bag also came with a Lucky Card. The Lucky Card was for a stock iPad mini. Other people had cards that were good for iPads and MacBook Airs. It was quite spectacular.
(My ex-wife was a flight attendant, so the flight to Japan was free.)
One of the New Year's customs in Japan is the Fukubukuro or "Lucky Bag." Many retail stores do this for the New Year. The idea is that you x amount of yen for a bag (or box) and it will come with goods that are at least equal to the price you paid for the bag.
Apple, being Apple, really took this to the next level. I worked for Apple Retail for a number of years and had the opportunity to witness this first hand both as an employee and as a customer.
One year I flew to Japan for New Years just for this event. I camped out overnight in the freezing cold with hundreds of other Japanese and foreigners. A lot of camaraderie in the line. In the morning, we were handed wrist bands. Got inside and bought a Lucky Bag for $350. I received a custom designed Incase backpack (that I still use), a special Japanese designed UE Boom, a battery pack, a set of Beats earbuds, and a $50 iTunes Gift Card. My bag also came with a Lucky Card. The Lucky Card was for a stock iPad mini. Other people had cards that were good for iPads and MacBook Airs. It was quite spectacular.
(My ex-wife was a flight attendant, so the flight to Japan was free.)
aimed at non-japanese with no tax. Not people live in japan. citizen or permanent resident. t
🐇airtag has meaning to me..... I want to buy,
not a joke it's a rabbit year 🐇
As I said events sales don't get much in japan. If they happen NOT many sales.just small incentives etc.
Happy Hopping
PS My meaning of `half joke` was about having to take our Rabbit `omamori` to the shrine end of next year (I think we won't; but maybe we are supposed to?)😉😁
The
Our currency has also been driven down by traders moving money out of Japan to the US, due to increased interest rates in the US, which are due to the US government flooding the US with cash during the pandemic instead of waiting for the economy to naturally recover, and now trying to stop the inflation they helped cause (yes, I know several things have combined to cause it, but they did encourage people to borrow money for low fees and things have taken a sharp turn).
The standard wage in McDonalds in Japan is ¥1,200 (somewhere around there) while the US is ¥2,500 (again, somewhere around there). Put another way, our currency is undervalued.
Average wages in Australia are MUCH higher than Japan. For the money we earn here in Japan, vegetables are expensive, fruit is very expensive; meat is borderline.
Our currency has also been driven down by traders moving money out of Japan to the US, due to increased interest rates in the US, which are due to the US government flooding the US with cash during the pandemic instead of waiting for the economy to naturally recover, and now trying to stop the inflation they helped cause (yes, I know several things have combined to cause it, but they did encourage people to borrow money for low fees and things have taken a sharp turn).
The standard wage in McDonalds in Japan is ¥1,200 (somewhere around there) while the US is ¥2,500 (again, somewhere around there). Put another way, our currency is undervalued.
The Japanese combine both the Chinese New Year and western New Year into a single holiday. New Year in Japan shuts the country down for a couple of days and people go to temples to pray. This is the Year of the Rabbit in Japan just as it is on the Chinese calendar. To accommodate Western traditions, Japan celebrates New Years on January 1.