Comments on: iPhone not selling well in Japan, now available for free

By: iPhone app Reviews

iPhone app Reviews — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:13:39 +0000

Must be nice over there. Wish they ran a promotion like that over here. I am sure they make enough money off the US market, but I am sure they would gain an even larger market share with a price cut like that.

By: Kelvin36

Kelvin36 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:25:52 +0000

Any recommendation on what to do and what not to do? ,

By: dayvan cowboy

dayvan cowboy — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:44:04 +0000

the iphone is not easier to use than any other phone.

By: Suzuki

Suzuki — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:07:05 +0000

iPhone ranks at 13 out of all the Japanese cellphones sold in Japan, which means there are 12 cellphones sold better than iPhone.

By: Andreas Kyoto

Andreas Kyoto — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:12:10 +0000

Hi there!

Just moved to Japan. Thnx for the wealth of useful and contradictory information (?) ! Could somebody
tell me (reliably) if I will be able to use in Europe an iphone which I’d like to be here from Softbank with a two-years contract. Under which conditions?

Thanks!

By: Kenji

Kenji — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:45:24 +0000

Very interesting read.
Now that the 3gs is out, things seem to have picked up a bit. I see more and more iPhones on the trains daily.
Many people have written about how advanced j-phones are. True. They are. But they are esentially made for people using Japanese as main language. Set your phone to English and your in the not-so-fun-world…

The really appealing thing about the iPhone is ease of use. That is something lacking in their japanese counterparts. The j-phones are full of things, some of them more or less useless. 1-seg (TV)? Sure, works fine if you’re not moving.

Recently, I see touch phones on billboards everywhere. The only place I do NOT se them are in hands of users.

By: Big Brother in Japan? University tracks students via free iPhones

Big Brother in Japan? University tracks students via free iPhones — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:27:47 +0000

[...] this autumn when the new semester starts. The university covers the basic fee for the iPhone (the hardware itself is “free” in Japan anyway), but students will have to pay when they exceed downloading [...]

By: BenMc

BenMc — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:30:12 +0000

I live in Nagoya and travel around a fair bit and rarely see a Windows Mobile device. I certainly don’t see people carrying around “really powerful subnotebooks”. The subnotebooks that are selling here now are the same $500 netbooks made by Acer, Asus and other Taiwanese companies that you can by anywhere. Also, they certainly aren’t carrying these around everywhere.

As Steve correctly stated, the typical Japanese cell phones have lots of bells & whistles, but are terrible to use. However, many people will stick with what they are used to. As he mentioned, the iPhone gps is worth it. Even though the iPhone camera’s not greate, I use mine to take and email photos much more than I ever did on my Japanese cell phone. It’s that magic ease of use. I also use it to listen to internet radio anywhere, read e-books, instant message, play games,…

I can’t wait for OS 3.0. I think the iPhone will continue to gain some market share in Japan, particularly if they come out with new models periodically.

By: GNC-2009-02-27 #455 On my way to Japan | Geek News Central

GNC-2009-02-27 #455 On my way to Japan | Geek News Central — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:07:48 +0000

[...] Explodes RIP Rocky Mountain News Say Hello to Google Twitter Facebook Photos a iPhone Contact List iPhone Japan poor sales MRO trouble Discovery March 12th Launch Blubrry Sponsors Wordcamp Denver Fairness Doctrine first [...]

By: John B

John B — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 09:26:03 +0000

I’ve worked in Japan for three and a half years. I’m also an avid Apple fan owning three generations of ipods and an two imacs. To be perfectly honest when I’m on the subway or trains I’ve rarely come across anyone with an iphone (in case you’ve never been to Japan the top three things people do on the trains here is 1) Text/Read on their cell phones, 2) read books/managa 3) doze off (yes even whilst standing). Mainly though everyone here is absorbed in their phones since talking is taboo on the trains. And I emphasize the trains because life her centers around traveling on the trains.

I must say I personally use texting/emailing a lot and find it incredibly difficult on touch screen phones (not just the iphone). Esp. here in Japan where there are not character limits you may find typing out a long message to be rather painful…

Also if you ever visit a NTT, KDDI or Softbank store (or any other cell phone retailer) you’ll be swamped by the variety of phones available (color, design, functionality – something for everybody). Unlike the Western GSM world where phone varieties are rather limited and anticipated months in advance (e.g. the Nokia 95), cell phones in Japan are churned out in the masses at a quarterly basis. They look stylish (very important here) and are exciting the use.

I personally feel that the Japanese cell phones are more advance but only because Japan has the critical mass to support the network functionality that allows such technology to be implemented.

MY NTT DoCoMo cell phone allows me to take 5MP photos, has a dual camera for video talk, unlimited data downloads, doubles as a suica card, steams FM radio and television shows. And yes it also allows me to view macromedia flash content! The Japanese are more interested in the text and reading whilst on the move so there’s no need to have full functionality web pages which increases waiting time. A quick page displaying the text with the latest news or wearther is suffice.

By: steve san

steve san — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:20:21 +0000

you are all being duped by softbank – iPhones are selling like hotcakes (or in this case, rice cakes?) in japan! softbank is giving it away for free because they want to completely annihilate au and docomo. (stepping on their necks while they’re down) just go into any subway or jr train and look around – shiny black things dominate!

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:30:26 +0000

In such a case; the uneducated person is confusing speech with orthography. This is no excuse, and they should still be corrected. When the standard of the language changes, only then will it be acceptable from a strict orthographic rules point of view.

By: CHRIS SPENCER

CHRIS SPENCER — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:45:35 +0000

where do i go to get one of these iphones, just a straight up answer, I don’t want a run around, does anyone know the answer to this question?

By: GNC-2009-02-27 #455 On my way to Japan « Technical Support Geek

GNC-2009-02-27 #455 On my way to Japan « Technical Support Geek — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:52:12 +0000

By: Does Japan really hate the iPhone? : SupaFeed

Does Japan really hate the iPhone? : SupaFeed — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:21:28 +0000

[...] free with a contract. This was reported by some outlets as a tacit admission of failure – including CrunchGear, which said it clearly indicated that “sales need a boost” (despite admitting there [...]

By: xentech

xentech — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:42:53 +0000

Since when is the Iphone the most advanced phone in the world? lulz

By: iPhone - ein untergehender Stern im Land der aufgehenden Sonne? | PPC Insider

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:12:21 +0000

[...] crunchgear.com Social [...]

By: Crossrange.de

Crossrange.de — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:27:45 +0000

iPhone – da bleibt die Wahrheit gerne auf der Strecke…

Das Apple iPhone floppt in Japan.
Das ist eine Meldung, die man in den vergangenen Tagen in einer ganzen Reihe von Blogs weltweit lesen konnte. Ausgegangen vom amerikanischen Magazin wired.com hat die Blogosphäre diese Nachricht fleißig verbr…

By: Free iPhones for all - in Japan | Free iPhone

Free iPhones for all - in Japan | Free iPhone — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:24:29 +0000

[...] iPhone Not Doing So Well In Japan, Now Free (crunchgear.com) Share and Enjoy: [...]

By: na

na — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:42:53 +0000

after all your typing iphone is still obsolete- fyi verizon had an app store 10 years ago