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[Merged] iPhone "Flops" in Japan, Carriers Provide Free Phones With Activation

S

SatanLover

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 28, 2008
78
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This is an article from FOXNews.com from today:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,501927,00.html


"Apple's iPhone is a hit everywhere in the world — except for Japan.

It turns out that Apple's video-playing, music-downloading, motion-sensing handset is just too, well, backward for the Japanese market.

In fact, the iPhone is such a flop in the Land of the Rising Sun that it's being given away free with a 2-year contract, Wired News reports.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that carrier charges are a lot cheaper in Japan than they are in the U.S., and Apple hasn't learned to compete.

Few Japanese want to pay $60 per month to use a phone that can't shoot video, receive TV signals or text-message photos.

"The pricing has been completely out of whack with market reality," one expert on the Japanese cell-phone market tells Wired News. "I think they [Apple and its partners overseas] are in the process of adjusting to local conditions."
 
SatanLover said:
"The pricing has been completely out of whack with market reality," one expert on the Japanese cell-phone market tells Wired News. "I think they [Apple and its partners overseas] are in the process of adjusting to local conditions."
Click to expand...

I assume this "expert" is referring to the pricing rather than any hardware upgrades.
 
continued (with video)

Actually, I believe that FOX story was a follow up to this one found on WIRED.com:

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/02/why-the-iphone.html



In the article, they mention one of the top phones in Japan. Although not as "pretty" or sleak as the iphone, there is no comparison when it comes to features and hardware. It has a 3.5" TV, motion sensors, 3G, GPS, and a 5.1 megapixel camera, with of course STANDARD options like multimedia messaging, which the iphone lacks.

Check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6J5EtiQ1ps
 
The Japanese like getting new gadgets as soon as they come out, and changing when the next big thing is released. The iPhone is updated much less frequently and has far fewer features than their phones...and is more expensive. Why get it then?
 
Does this surprise anyone? I mean Japan is real high tech and the iPhone is a joke compared to the phones they have there for the same price (if not cheaper). The mere fact the iPhone lacks carrier supported MMS and fancy hardware features like TV, 5MP video cam and other stuff is probably laughable to them.

But i'm not in Japan so I'll continue to love my iPhone.
 
Not really a shocker. The features are nothing special (at best) by Japanese standards, and it's not really designed around Japanese usage--no 1Seg, a mid-spec screen (by JP standards), very limited software feature set, and an appalling camera (again, remember that 5+Mpixel is common there, not to mention autofocus, decent lenses, and - even optical zooms- are widely available. Oh, and in a country where text/email is far cheaper than voice calls, no big shocker that a "virtual keyboard" isn't a big selling point.
 
ballnluv23 said:
with of course STANDARD options like multimedia messaging, which the iphone lacks.
Click to expand...

In Japan, they call this "e-mail." The iPhone has that. Japanese do not use the MMS standard. The difference between the iPhone and the e-mail on carrier-provided phones in Japan, though, is that the latter type's e-mail is push. You need MobileMe for that on an iPhone.

sysiphus said:
and an appalling camera (again, remember that 5+Mpixel is common there, not to mention autofocus, decent lenses, and - even optical zooms- are widely available
Click to expand...

Last time I was in Japan, high megapixel camera phones that put out anything better than the kind of grainy crap you see from an iPhone was pretty much non-existent. Has that changed? I wouldn't imagine so; you can't get a decent lens in a cell phone without the phone being the size of a brick.
 
Is this a surprise? Japan is and pretty much has always been leaps and bounds ahead of us when it comes to electronics.
 
well, Portugal isn't advanced as japan and we had 3g phones since 2004, for 99euros without contract.

in fact i remember to watch mobile tv for 1 euro /day had one of these:


ah, and have mms, cam, etc... it cost me about 100euros, on the summer of 2005 without contact.
 
Japanese technology is extremely overrated. Especially amongst the average consumer. There are tons of students from Japan at my campus and they almost all use iPhones, wish they had an iPhone because they think they aer so fantastic.
 
cjm3113 said:
Japanese technology is extremely overrated. Especially amongst the average consumer. There are tons of students from Japan at my campus and they almost all use iPhones, wish they had an iPhone because they think they aer so fantastic.
Click to expand...

They aren't living in Japan, are they?

Mobile TV is everything, MMS is everything, a good camera is everything to the Japanese. Their products are constantly upgraded and revolutionized, while we sit here waiting for products that came out a year ago or Apple trying to make another leapfrog product. We should be researching, developing better stuff for our cell phones. Almost every tech product company is based in Japan. Whenever they come out with a product, we go wow! Whenever we come out with a product, a bunch of hos and hums go out in Japan. Example, iPhone, Xbox 360. If you are to compete in the Japanese Market, you must go above and beyond and constantly try to make things better. That is why the Japanese workforce actually has such long working hours and stress is upon you when you are working there.
 
The cultural aspect

I seem to recall reading (though I can't find the article now) that there is a cultural bias in Japan towards a more complex/configurable/"powerful" UI as opposed to a US bias towards simplicity. I believe it was specifically referencing consumer electronics, but I think it can easily extend to phones.
 
Theaser said:
They aren't living in Japan, are they?

Mobile TV is everything, MMS is everything, a good camera is everything to the Japanese. Their products are constantly upgraded and revolutionized, while we sit here waiting for products that came out a year ago or Apple trying to make another leapfrog product. We should be researching, developing better stuff for our cell phones. Almost every tech product company is based in Japan. Whenever they come out with a product, we go wow! Whenever we come out with a product, a bunch of hos and hums go out in Japan. Example, iPhone, Xbox 360. If you are to compete in the Japanese Market, you must go above and beyond and constantly try to make things better. That is why the Japanese workforce actually has such long working hours and stress is upon you when you are working there.
Click to expand...

MMS is NOT a problem I believe, because in Japan you use your phone number for SMS to people who are on your carrier, everybody else you use a mobile phone email address which iPhone supports.
 
Theaser said:
They aren't living in Japan, are they?

Mobile TV is everything, MMS is everything, a good camera is everything to the Japanese. Their products are constantly upgraded and revolutionized, while we sit here waiting for products that came out a year ago or Apple trying to make another leapfrog product. We should be researching, developing better stuff for our cell phones. Almost every tech product company is based in Japan. Whenever they come out with a product, we go wow! Whenever we come out with a product, a bunch of hos and hums go out in Japan. Example, iPhone, Xbox 360. If you are to compete in the Japanese Market, you must go above and beyond and constantly try to make things better. That is why the Japanese workforce actually has such long working hours and stress is upon you when you are working there.
Click to expand...

That has absolutely nothing to do with it. The average person is not blessed with amazing technology. Very few people in Japan (according to the students I have talked to) are able to have/use the gadgets that we believe them all to be using.
 
cjm3113 said:
That has absolutely nothing to do with it. The average person is not blessed with amazing technology. Very few people in Japan (according to the students I have talked to) are able to have/use the gadgets that we believe them all to be using.
Click to expand...
True, but Japanese phones are something that everybody has and they are WAAAY more powerful than any other phone in the world.
 
cjm3113 said:
That has absolutely nothing to do with it. The average person is not blessed with amazing technology. Very few people in Japan (according to the students I have talked to) are able to have/use the gadgets that we believe them all to be using.
Click to expand...

I don't think you should say that if you have never been to Tokyo.
 
Theaser said:
Example, iPhone, Xbox 360. If you are to compete in the Japanese Market, you must go above and beyond and constantly try to make things better..
Click to expand...

Ignoring the iPhone there, the Xbox 360 isn't doing to bad. Admittly MS focused a lot on Western game, but last week it bet Wii and PS3 sales(due to a new game...it won't last, but I'm saying the game market is more based on games then the consoles themselves)
 
This doesn't surprise me. I visited a few cities in Japan over the summer for a couple of weeks and having streaming TV on their cell phones is surprisingly popular (among the young crowd), as well as MMS.
 
zap2 said:
Ignoring the iPhone there, the Xbox 360 isn't doing to bad. Admittly MS focused a lot on Western game, but last week it bet Wii and PS3 sales(due to a new game...it won't last, but I'm saying the game market is more based on games then the consoles themselves)
Click to expand...

The Xbox 360 IS doing well, but just not in Japan.

Microsoft was so desperate they had a complete makeover of the Xbox 360 OS to make it look like a Wii. It was horrible and I despise my Xbox 360's operating system.
 
ballnluv23 said:
In the article, they mention one of the top phones in Japan. Although not as "pretty" or sleak as the iphone, there is no comparison when it comes to features and hardware. It has a 3.5" TV, motion sensors, 3G, GPS, and a 5.1 megapixel camera, with of course STANDARD options like multimedia messaging, which the iphone lacks.
Click to expand...
This is a common phone in the corporate world. Of the managers that I know, that have this model, most just use the phone and maybe a feature or two.

Of the ones that purchased this phone on a personal basis, pretty much the same holds true but they use a few more features.

Over the years, being here in Japan, I've found the cell phone advancements fascinating compared to the rest of the world. On the other hand, I've also found out that many use the cool features for 1-2 months and then go back to the basics.

Don't fool yourself on this particular phone. It looks cool. But in use it leaves a lot to be desired. The menu system is very clunky. That is true with many cell phones here. The phone itself is flimsy with the dual hinge. They break easily and are not very durable. The battery life is short. For example, when using the TV function it around about 30-45 minutes according to my friends.

From what I've seen, many Japanese change cell phones about as often as they change underwear. :D

Seriously, the Japanese rarely hold onto a cell phone for more than 6 months to a year. It's a fashion statement. Plus they like the latest and greatest.

Of the friends who have purchased an iPhone, they love it. It works well for them. Sure they miss some features but overall they like how easy the iPhone is to use.

cjm3113 said:
Very few people in Japan (according to the students I have talked to) are able to have/use the gadgets that we believe them all to be using.
Click to expand...
I would say this is spot on.
 
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