According to research firm Data Vendor MM Research Institute, throughout the year of 2011, the Apple’s iPhone has been the top selling smartphone in Japan having a sales figure of 7.25 million units and this makes Apple the single biggest smartphone seller in Japan, driving its sales far ahead from its main rival Samsung.
From the research, 30% of the 24.2 million smartphones shipped in the country were iPhone while Samsung accounted for only 8.3%. This data makes it clear that the Apple is the leader in this cell phone category.
iPhone fashion accessories on display at Softbank event
Who are the big players? The smartphone market in Japan is dominated by Apple and Samsung. These two companies have traded the lead as they release new models. In terms of sales figures the iPhone led the market but in terms of platform Android is still in the lead. The Android OS phones have taken 69 percent of the entire market but still no one vendor could overtake Apple.
Apple’s sales were boosted by the launch of its iPhone 4S late last year having 26.6 percent market share in Japan and have picked up even more after the release of iOS 5.1 update because it brought Japanese language support to Siri. Siri is the popular personal assistant and knowledge navigator application that is proprietary to Apple. Also this is the first time where an Apple phone has been carried by the two operators in Japan, au/KDDI and SoftBank.
Source:Telecommunications Carriers Association Data Processed by SR Inc.
Smartphones made up 57% of total mobile shipments during the fiscal year according to the data showed by MM, bringing Apple to be the 2nd in the entire Japanese handset market, behind Fujitsu. Another set of data showed that Apple is considered to be the top consumer brands in the country for beating out 999 other brands to the top position.
Rumor has it that Apple will use low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) touch-screens with a resolution of 326 pixels-per-inch and the companies Sharp and Japan Display could be the main suppliers.
On a side note as an iPhone user, I’m excited about the new 0.25mm soft waterproof case (¥3,000). The case carries an IPX-8 Waterproof Standard. IPX-8 is the highest rating for a waterproof product based on the IEC 529 Specifications. Check out the video!
I’m not surprised at all.
I see so many Japanese with iPhones every single day.
I’d love to get one myself, but I hate to be bound to Softbank for 2 years when I’m not sure if I’ll be around for another 2 years in Japan.
If you want a smart phone badly enough you have a few options. 1) Buy it through a contract and if you leave… buy out the contract at a discount and keep the phone. 2) Go to another country like Thailand and buy the phone direct and unlocked and use it with any carrier that has a plan of your liking.
The problem is that Softbank phones (and I think the ones of other carriers as well) can’t be used in any other country.
What I mean is that it’s extremely tricky to crack the SIM-lock – or so I heard.
It would be too expensive to go to another country just to get a smartphone! *g*
True! I had an HTC Windows smart phone from Softbank and after it was all paid for I had it unlocked while in another country. Cost $30, took a few days, and they had to put on a different phone OS. It was unusable in Japan. I did unlock and jailbreak my Japanese iPhone 3G successfully though (back in 2009?)
Yes, it IS possible, but very tricky to do.
It’s not like I can’t have an iPhone but I just heard from friends who left Japan that they had to pay a high fee for breaking the contract and on top of that they couldn’t use their iPhone outside of Japan, so they had to try and sell it for cheap. Very annoying!
I wish they didn’t have that stupid SIM-lock!