SevenClick! Mobile Technology Evangelists

When Softbank announced iPhone release date in Japan I thought it would reach a great success. I was mistaken.

I made my own survey to know what japanese youth really think about the iPhone 3G, and Erika asked that iPhone success in Japan would depend on its features (in terms of radio wave, battery live, usability…).

Apple sold 200,000 iPhones in Japan in the first two months, success was announced, and I was happy because of people who didn´t trust me ;-), Even Ungatonippon published an article where shows lot of magazines created exclusively for the iPhone. Japanese loved iPhone!

In spite of this, iPhone sales are falling in Japan, and i have to say I am so sad :(, with demand declining to such a point that analysts now believe that the phone won’t even hit the half a million mark (Apple had thought it could sell one million in Japan).

On the other hand, Japan’s cell phone market is one of the world’s most sophisticated with its own set of popular features. Indeed, some Japanese buyers of the iPhone were carrying their old ones as well to specifically access those features. Of course it is the main iPhone handicap. It is cool, but not useful in Japan, where people even use their mobile phone to pay the meal.

Therefore, Softbank, the exclusive Japanese carrier of the iPhone, has already lowered tariffs once to make the gadget more cost-friendly to younger buyers. But analysts believe that iPhone should make more of its AppStore, to show what the gadget can do.

“Impossible is nothing”(adidas©) but Apple must make a good effort to help boost Japanese sales.

Via Moconews