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iPod Takes Japan by Storm

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the extremely-well-designed-storm dept.

conq writes "BusinessWeek reports on the soaring popularity of the iPod in Japan. From the article: 'iPod mania is alive and well in Japan -- one of the most competitive consumer-electronics markets on the planet. Despite an array of well-entrenched Japanese rivals, such as Sony and Matsushita, the iPod had cornered 51.3% of the digital-music player market as of the end of 2005, up from about 32% in 2004, according to research firm BCN. Sony was a distant second with 16.2%, while Panasonic grabbed just 8.2% of the market.'"

2 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. I was in Japan last week ... by Stan+Chesnutt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... and I saw a LOT of people wearing iPods in the trains, walking on the streets, and at the Narita airport. I talked with a few people about the iPod, and most were using them for Japanese pop music ripped from CDs: I did not meet anyone who had used the iTunes store.

    Further, most of the models I saw were the video iPod or the Nano. Very few older photo iPods, and none of the earlier generations.

    I'd say that the iPod was the dominant music player that I saw (although there were a few portable CD players)

    1. Re:I was in Japan last week ... by gbrandt · · Score: 4, Interesting

      When I was in Japan I noticed quite a few companies selling white ear-pods in Akahabara. The iPod is such a fad item that people that have other devices will buy the white ear-pods to make it LOOK like they have an iPod.

      Its all about perception in Japan.

      Gregor