iPhone in Japan?

[dreamsandart]

Has anyone an idea about the iPhone coming to Japan?

Thanks,

 

[diamond.g]

Has anyone an idea about the iPhone coming to Japan?

Thanks,

Sooner if Japan were to start using GSM again


I also imagine it would have to offer some of the same features other Japanese phone have in order to compete a little bit better.

 

[Porcinet]

Probably late 2008. 3G is widespread in Japan and multiple service are available (electronic wallet, etc...), so the current first generation of iPhone would anyway not be competitive in the current Japanese market.

 

[appleiphone]

Maybe the first quarter of next year. Waiting for it.

 

[darngooddesign]

I doubt it, feature-wise the iPhone is so behind the cutting-edge (and not so cutting-edge) Japanese and Korean phones its not even funny. Try selling EDGE when WiMax is getting to be common place.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

it won't happen anytime soon. Japan uses a completely different wireless system.

 

[ellsworth]

I'm pretty sure Japan has FAR more superior phone units than the iPhone. Heck. Most of their phones have Video-talk... wowie. the iphone would be backwards out there.

 

[TurboSC]

ppl in Japan will laugh at the EDGE. they have like 20mbit on their cells now

 

[lofight]

i don't think the market is very big, already 4 years ago Japan had cellphones that now still cost 400 dollar for the same price then.

 

[mavis]

I'm pretty sure Japan has FAR more superior phone units than the iPhone. Heck. Most of their phones have Video-talk... wowie. the iphone would be backwards out there.

Odd, everyone I've showed my iPod Touch to has been blown away by its ease of use, features and eye candy. Pretty much everyone (regular people, mind you - not 'tech' people) has said that they will buy the iPhone as soon as it's available here, because Japanese phones are clunky and archaic-looking compared to the iTouch/iPhone.

For example, Japanese phones have high speed internet access, but many are limited to the provider's content portal. The ability to surf the net using Safari just blows their minds. REAL SITES instead of that portal crap they're used to.

Also, Japanese phones are limited to SMS/MMS - no POP/IMAP access. The ability to check your 'real' email account with ease is sorely lacking over here, and the fact that the iPhone can do it is a big plus for a lot of people.

While many Japanese phones now have navi applications, GoogleMaps.app just kills them all in terms of ease of use (not to mention it's actually FUN to use) ...

Music and videos, from your OWN collection? Wow. Many Japanese phones can play music but few (if any) can play MP3s, they all use DRM - which means a buggy PC-only app to re-encode your music, or (usually) downloading stuff OTA for a fee. ie, $3 for a song plus the ridiculous packet data charges.

All of this stuff aside, the iPhone simply blows the competition away when it comes to looks, design, and useability. I think it'll be a HUGE hit over here.

 

[evilboy]

mavis, you are 100% right we are all waiting for iPhone!

iPhone in Japan