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Why Japan Hates the iPhone

Posted by kdawson on from the one-man's-cool-is-another-man's-lame dept.

Ponca City, We love you writes "With a high level of technical sophistication, critical customers, and high innovation rate, Japan is the toughest cell phone market in the world. So it's not surprising that although Apple is the third-largest mobile supplier in the world, selling 10 million units in 2008, in Japan the iPhone is selling so poorly it's being offered for free. The country is famous for being ahead of its time when it comes to technology, and the iPhone just doesn't cut it. For example, Japanese handset users are into video and photos — and the iPhone has neither a video camera, multimedia text messaging, nor a TV tuner. Pricing plans in Japan are also very competitive, and the iPhone's $60-and-up monthly plan is too high compared to competitors; a survey lat year showed that among Japanese consumers, 91% didn't want to buy an iPhone. The cellular weapon of choice in Japan would be the Panasonic P905i, a fancy cellphone that doubles as a 3-inch TV and features 3-G, GPS, a 5.1-megapixel camera, and motion sensors for Wii-style games. 'When I show this to visitors from the US, they're amazed,' according to journalist Nobi Hayashi, who adds, 'Carrying around an iPhone in Japan would make you look pretty lame.'"

5 of 884 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Using an iPhone makes you look pretty lame? by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Not trolling, making a joke. I guess you forgot "In Korea, only old people use email..."

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    Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
  2. Re:That's not nice. by Camann · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I could be wrong but I thought AC was making an attempt at a South Park reference. Apparently mod(s) agrees with you.

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    I can't believe you don't know what a Hasemalphaginnojinglanaporphomism is.
  3. Re:Don't be so surprised. by Hal_Porter · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    You best be trolling, gaijin.

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  4. Re:maybe the reviews just don't translate well. by Chrisq · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    There phones don't get sold here because they think the average American is to stupid to know how to use it.

    And to know the difference between their and there.

  5. Re:only foreigners, perhaps by StikyPad · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The Corvette is actually one of the best values in the sports car market, and the hand made Z6 outperforms many of its competitors in ANY price range, let alone the sub-$100k bracket. Unfortunately, that's pretty much the only one. It's not like you can actually use a sports car/sedan to its full potential on any public roads in the US, so there's not quite the market here as there is elsewhere.

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