Why Japan Hates the iPhone

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.'"

Comments

maybe the reviews just don't translate well.

[petes_PoV]

After all, what's japanese for "but it's shiny and pretty and I WANT ONE NOW

How come it's only in Japan

[guruevi]

Why don't we get these type of phones in Europe or the US? I think we have a large market as well and some of these phones would be welcomed. Instead we're stuck with crappy phones and the iPhone is nearly the best well known product we can get. Where is our 3G? Where is our full speed internet and cable tv on a phone?