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iPhone Claims 46% of Japanese Smartphone Market
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No. Opera Mobile *IS* a real web browser. All the rendering is done on the device.
Opera MINI is the one that uses a proxy server at Opera to do the rendering. It has some advantages in that it usually uses less data since images are compressed by Opera on their servers.
Also, to correct an error elsewhere in the thread, Nokia uses Webkit on their S60 Symbian devices. They actually shipped a Webkit mobile browser before Apple did. They use Gecko on their Maemo internet tablets such as the new N900.
The "smartphone" tag is kind of bizarre in this report since by the reports definition many phones that run Symbian (such as many of the Docomo MOAP phones) and Linux are not "smartphones". Kind of like saying Porsche have 46% of the car market because we're not counting Ford, GM, VW...
I saw 2 iPhones in the last 7 days and one was at the Softbank store. I live in Fukuoka, Japan which is like the 5th largest city in Japan. I am starting to see more iPhones but not that many more. 
Same here. I'd used DoCoMo for about a dozen years before switching to Softbank. I was very nervous about doing so. Since then, I haven't regretted it one bit. My monthly bills are lower and I use my iPhone much more often than I ever used any of my phones on DocoMo.
The iphone having success just hurts some people so bad.
The truth hurts too. The iPhone just isn't what the Japanese people want. Again I was on a packed train and saw a ton of Sanyo phones (flip) with people watching TV and listening to music. One of the girls on the train commented on my iPhone and I told her it was the best phone in the states and she snickered.
I do question the "sales" figures that are being mentioned, though.
When the 3Gs came out, Softbank began giving away the 3G free of charge with a two-year contract.
And now, Softbank is giving away the 16GB 3Gs free of charge with a contract. (If you want the 32GB 3Gs, you only have to pay 480 yen per month about $5* for 24 months.)
I wonder how many Softbank customers have actually paid for the phone itself.
When the 3Gs came out, Softbank began giving away the 3G free of charge with a two-year contract.
And now, Softbank is giving away the 16GB 3Gs free of charge with a contract. (If you want the 32GB 3Gs, you only have to pay 480 yen per month about $5* for 24 months.)
I wonder how many Softbank customers have actually paid for the phone itself.
Another thing to mention is that the most popular phones in Japan are the flip style phones that can be easily used with one hand, while the other is holding onto the subway handle thing. Trying to use an iPhone on a packed subway is a pain in the a$$.
*fighting that old lady for the seat*
*fighting that old lady for the seat*
As mentioned by another poster (Sushi I believe), I also recently switched to the iPhone after over 10 years with AU. I was getting tired of the "dumbphone" offerings from the Japanese domestic makers.
Most Japanese cell phones do offer the Osaifu (Suica/Edy etc.) feature for electronic payment, but I was fine just using a commuter pass on the trains.
1-seg TV (when you're lucky enough to get a clear enough picture to view) holds no interest for me as most Japanese TV is not worth watching even on the big screen. Most Japanese I know that have it say they rarely, if ever use 1-seg.
For me, a "smartphone" means a phone that has an OS like Windows Mobile, OS X, Android, BlackBerry, WebOS, etc., the ability to download from thousands of free and paid applications, can sync with your computer (mail, schedule, data), and the ability to upgrade the phone's firmware and/or software (OS).
As the main Japanese carriers (docomo, AU, Softbank) offer new lineups three times a year (spring, summer, fall/winter), they feel there is no need to offer firmware or software upgrades as the faithful sheep will just upgrade to a new phone. That, however has been changing over the last couple of years since all 3 major carriers have implemented phone plans that either offer a low-cost subsidized option with the carrier covering the majority of the phone cost - and locking you into a 2-year contract, or the other option is to pay for the entire cost of the phone up front. Of course most users go with the 1st option, hence sales figures are going down as people don't upgrade as often.
The iPhone has given the cell phone makers here a kick in the pants and we are now starting to see more "smartphone-like" Japanese phones that include larger touch screens, QWERTY keyboards and better browsing features, but in the end, they still have the incomprehensible UI and limited applications to choose from.
Softbank has made noises about the release of a mystery phone in January with the Android OS. Maybe it will be the rumoured Google Nexus One - who knows. More competition offered by foreign smartphones here means the domestic makers have get to off their butts and pay attention to what consumers want (not just more useless features and complex menus).
As for the visibility of the iPhone in Japan, as others have mentioned, the clam-shell (flip type) phone is most popular, allowing for easier use when on the train etc. And, one statistic not as widely known it seems is that a large portion of Japanese iPhone users purchase it as their 2nd phone. They still use their regular "dumbphone" for mail and calls, and the iPhone for Internet browsing and apps (Japanese "keitai" sites are not browsable on the iPhone).
Most Japanese cell phones do offer the Osaifu (Suica/Edy etc.) feature for electronic payment, but I was fine just using a commuter pass on the trains.
1-seg TV (when you're lucky enough to get a clear enough picture to view) holds no interest for me as most Japanese TV is not worth watching even on the big screen. Most Japanese I know that have it say they rarely, if ever use 1-seg.
For me, a "smartphone" means a phone that has an OS like Windows Mobile, OS X, Android, BlackBerry, WebOS, etc., the ability to download from thousands of free and paid applications, can sync with your computer (mail, schedule, data), and the ability to upgrade the phone's firmware and/or software (OS).
As the main Japanese carriers (docomo, AU, Softbank) offer new lineups three times a year (spring, summer, fall/winter), they feel there is no need to offer firmware or software upgrades as the faithful sheep will just upgrade to a new phone. That, however has been changing over the last couple of years since all 3 major carriers have implemented phone plans that either offer a low-cost subsidized option with the carrier covering the majority of the phone cost - and locking you into a 2-year contract, or the other option is to pay for the entire cost of the phone up front. Of course most users go with the 1st option, hence sales figures are going down as people don't upgrade as often.
The iPhone has given the cell phone makers here a kick in the pants and we are now starting to see more "smartphone-like" Japanese phones that include larger touch screens, QWERTY keyboards and better browsing features, but in the end, they still have the incomprehensible UI and limited applications to choose from.
Softbank has made noises about the release of a mystery phone in January with the Android OS. Maybe it will be the rumoured Google Nexus One - who knows. More competition offered by foreign smartphones here means the domestic makers have get to off their butts and pay attention to what consumers want (not just more useless features and complex menus).
As for the visibility of the iPhone in Japan, as others have mentioned, the clam-shell (flip type) phone is most popular, allowing for easier use when on the train etc. And, one statistic not as widely known it seems is that a large portion of Japanese iPhone users purchase it as their 2nd phone. They still use their regular "dumbphone" for mail and calls, and the iPhone for Internet browsing and apps (Japanese "keitai" sites are not browsable on the iPhone).
So about every phone sold after 1995 or something.
Every phone with a graphical screen as a OS. Firmware based phones that had a ROM are things of a very distant past.
It's not because the OS was non-obvious and updating it required special cables and software that it wasn't possible btw.
I have actually renewed the embedded OS on a former Japanese cell phone, and generally the upgrades only cover bug fixes.
A few years back, the successor to the Toshiba cell phone I owned at the time had additional functionality for downloading music, but when I inquired about an upgrade for my model (physically the same specs), the answer was a decided - no. This is how they force people to constantly buy the next model here, with a few more bells and whistles.
With a smartphone OS upgrade, in addition to bug fixes, there can be a variety of additional features (e.g. copy/paste on the iPhone). With typical J phone OS, users can complain as much as they want with little chance of a getting real OS upgrade.
That doesn't make it any less of a OS on a phone that can be updated. So those "dumb" phones are actually smartphones by your criteria.
Look, the fact is smartphone is a marketing gimmick. There is no such thing as a smartphone. No one can define it and depending on who you talk to, the definition is different, depending on which definition will inflate their market share the most.
according to the study published by morgan stanley (was on macrumors yesterday), 52% of phones sold in japan are smartphones. about 40-60m phones are sold annually in japan (at the lower end this year because of the recession), so according to them, the smartphone market is 20-30m annually.
So that would mean apple sold between 10-15m phones. Which shows your numbers are off since Apple shipped 2m per year (they've been there for a year and a half, putting them at 3m phones sold).
The fact remains, no one agrees on the definition of a smartphone because there is no such thing.
my numbers are off?
sorry but while i don't trust a whole lot to morgan stanley, i trust even less on "Japanese market research firm Impress R&D". those numbers are way way off. i wrote before that i consider pretty much every phone sold in japan smartphone, capable of accessing internet, email, run user installed apps etc. morgan stanley says that 52%, ok maybe that. but about 4m / year (3m sold in 1.5y resulting 46% market share)? no way. sorry, this study by Impress R&D is bs.
Its hard not to slip into defining terms artificially to make your conclusion become true
No the truth hurts for you, who want to downplay any success that the iphone gets.
no need to upplay it either. as i pointed out above, the marketshare of iphone during the 1,5y in the market is between 3-5%. that's not bad at all, for a foreign company, in japan.
for smartphones, using somewhat generally accepted definitions, the marketshare is between 7-10%. this is actually pretty good, there's no need to exaggerate the success by throwing far out imaginary numbers.
there's just this weird culture amongst the apple aficionados to blindly believe anything that appears as good news for apple, and then go on spreading the word all around the net. even if the news was too good to be true and defies any common sense.
Goona said:
Goona said:
My seven year old has come up with more thoughtful retorts.
Everyone else in this thread has done some research and/or used personal experiences to support their posts, whether pro or con. Therefore we can respect their opinions, even if we don't agree.
You should try it sometime. Don't be scared. Facts are fun to use, and good for you, too!
These stats are a bit odd. According to the article the 3G took 25% of the Japanese smartphone market in 2008. Given that there were about 6 million 3Gs sold outwith what does that mean?
I think Apple have done well in Japan if not spectacularly. If they've sold three million then there's probably two million active iPhone users. Not too shabby.
I think Apple have done well in Japan if not spectacularly. If they've sold three million then there's probably two million active iPhone users. Not too shabby.
If it helps, in their June 2009 report, Admob estimated there were around 525,000 iPhones in Japan.
The current three million estimate comes from someone who's apparently the Japanese Apple fan equivalent of Walt Mossberg. If anywhere near true, it demonstrates a nice uptake of the 3GS, boosted by great price deals.
But that means that a firm that based their 46% of this number (the 3m) is grossly limiting the phones he's comparing the iPhone against. That's the only number I have issue with.
well the latest november admob report says 3% of iphones + touches are based in japan. that would make 1.5m units both iphone + touches, based on numbers in admob report. the june report indicates ratio of 2:1 of iphones:touches. so 1m iphones sold in japan so far, based on admob reports.
in 1.5y that's 1.1-1.6% market-share of mobile phones total and 2.2-3.2% of smartphones. basicly not a very good number.
Smartphones in Japan
The comments in this thread are hilarious, and generally uninformed. Below, when I talk about "Japanese Phones" my meaning is the typical Japanese flip phones that most people carry There are now a number of "SmartPhones" being marketed by all 3 big companies, mostly with WinMobile software.
1. Prior to iPhone, the only smartphone available was a WinMobile phone from SoftBank. DoCoMo would not sell smart phones to consumers, only to companies. AU has only recently even had a category of "smartphones"
2. The average Japanese person feels a strong bond with DoCoMO and is afraid to go to Softbank. Thats a problem for iPhone.
3. While Japanese cell phones have TVs and can do email and pay for the train, the fact is that very few people use the pay feature. If you stand at the entry to most train lines, you rarely see people using their phones to pay. Very very rarely. Few people watch TV on the phone, at least in public. The email on the cell phones does not allow checking email on a server, but is limited to the phone's email only. It is impossible to read an attached file.
4. The "browsers" on the Japanese cell phones can not access a secure web site and allow entry of a username/password.
5. People need to STOP thinking that cell phones in Japan are "so advanced". They are in fact pathetically behind, and largely unchanged over the last few years. The screens are very small, and their internet functions very limited. Listening to music from the phone is possible but requires a convoluted collection of hardware and software.
6. While third-party software allowing you to synchronize calendar information from a PC to a Japanese phone exists, its functionality is extremely limited and in fact does not work properly (for example, it is impossible to set up a recurring meeting).
7. For me, I want my phone to do 4 things in addition to being a phone: 1. Allow easy web browsing to any site with full functionality (there is not a single Japanese phone that can do this, and WinMobile has not done this well in the past). 2. Listen to music (Japanese phones do this but only with extreme difficulty) 3. Access my email from my company server and read attachments (no Japanese phone can do this) 4. Full easy synchronization with my calendar (no Japanese phone can do this).
So, please STOP this garbage about "advanced Japanese phones". They are pathetic and no match for an iPhone. The networks in Japan are truly excellent throughout the country and that is impressive.
I have lived in Japan for 3 years now, and have use a variety of Japanese flip phones as well as a Toshiba (WinMobile 6) smart phone and the iPhone. For the 4 functions above that I consider important, there is no phone in Japan that is even close to the iPhone.
The comments in this thread are hilarious, and generally uninformed. Below, when I talk about "Japanese Phones" my meaning is the typical Japanese flip phones that most people carry There are now a number of "SmartPhones" being marketed by all 3 big companies, mostly with WinMobile software.
1. Prior to iPhone, the only smartphone available was a WinMobile phone from SoftBank. DoCoMo would not sell smart phones to consumers, only to companies. AU has only recently even had a category of "smartphones"
2. The average Japanese person feels a strong bond with DoCoMO and is afraid to go to Softbank. Thats a problem for iPhone.
3. While Japanese cell phones have TVs and can do email and pay for the train, the fact is that very few people use the pay feature. If you stand at the entry to most train lines, you rarely see people using their phones to pay. Very very rarely. Few people watch TV on the phone, at least in public. The email on the cell phones does not allow checking email on a server, but is limited to the phone's email only. It is impossible to read an attached file.
4. The "browsers" on the Japanese cell phones can not access a secure web site and allow entry of a username/password.
5. People need to STOP thinking that cell phones in Japan are "so advanced". They are in fact pathetically behind, and largely unchanged over the last few years. The screens are very small, and their internet functions very limited. Listening to music from the phone is possible but requires a convoluted collection of hardware and software.
6. While third-party software allowing you to synchronize calendar information from a PC to a Japanese phone exists, its functionality is extremely limited and in fact does not work properly (for example, it is impossible to set up a recurring meeting).
7. For me, I want my phone to do 4 things in addition to being a phone: 1. Allow easy web browsing to any site with full functionality (there is not a single Japanese phone that can do this, and WinMobile has not done this well in the past). 2. Listen to music (Japanese phones do this but only with extreme difficulty) 3. Access my email from my company server and read attachments (no Japanese phone can do this) 4. Full easy synchronization with my calendar (no Japanese phone can do this).
So, please STOP this garbage about "advanced Japanese phones". They are pathetic and no match for an iPhone. The networks in Japan are truly excellent throughout the country and that is impressive.
I have lived in Japan for 3 years now, and have use a variety of Japanese flip phones as well as a Toshiba (WinMobile 6) smart phone and the iPhone. For the 4 functions above that I consider important, there is no phone in Japan that is even close to the iPhone.