IPhone Dominates Japanese Smartphone Market

#1

Post by MykalMorton » Fri, Apr 23, 2010, 1:58 PM UTC

IPhone Dominates Japanese Smartphone Market
mashable.com

Re: IPhone Dominates Japanese Smartphone Market

#2

Post by ZeroGravitas » Fri, Apr 23, 2010, 2:40 PM UTC

I thought the Japanese had been watching television, browsing the web and buying things from vending machines with their mobile phones for years.

How can there only be 3 million smartphones, and sales of smartphones be basically zero before last year? I'm thinking perhaps this statistic hinges entirely on the definition of smartphone.

Re: IPhone Dominates Japanese Smartphone Market

#3

Post by donw » Fri, Apr 23, 2010, 3:03 PM UTC

I think this article fails to bundle most normal handsets in with the 'smartphone' market, which in Japan is a bit unfair. And, while their market share is definitely growing, they still have a long way to go; I've only seen maybe one or two other iPhone users on the trains in Tokyo.

Having an iPhone there has actually been a bit of a handicap, because I can't exchange numbers directly with non-iPhone users via infrared, a feature that the Japanese have enjoyed for some time now.