iPhone Barely Ripples Japanese Market
I asked how big a splash the iPhone would make, and the LA Times gives the Japanese reaction, which is barely a ripple. The article points out that the Japanese already use mobile phones for everything the iPhone does, and more. They also use 3G networks rather than 2G, and are adverse to paying more than a couple of hundred dollars for a mobile handset—less than half the price of the cheaper iPhone. The same largely applies to Korea, as well. The iPhone would have a tough time in the Japanese/Korean market now, but it’s not due to be released there until 2008. If Apple keeps its iPod tactic of innovating rapidly it might be able to keep pace, but the handset unveiled at Macworld probably won’t cut it in Asia.
Jan 11, 2007 3:02 PM ET
Newsletter
Comments (3)
Jan 15, 2007 2:00 AM
If I recall correctly from Reingold’s book Smart Mobs, Japan and other developed Asian countries have fewer computers per capita. Deluxe cell phones are a substitute for PCs in Asia to a greater extent than they are in the US…so there’s not as big of a niche to be filed by the iPhone.
Jan 15, 2007 8:23 AM
Also, Japan and South Korea don’t use GSM and so can’t use the iPhone, so it’s a bit of a non-issue struggling to wring the last news out of the hype… The US multi-year tie-in with Cingular suggests there won’t be a CDMA phone any time soon, and Apple don’t have the R&D cash to branch the design for two technology families when they need to be making it 3G/HSDPA to stand a chance of selling many in Europe (it’s mainly a data device with a phone, and we don’t have much cheap WiFi or EDGE in Europe).
Jan 20, 2007 11:59 PM
can i use the iphone in mexico with telcel, movistar or any other company