Nokia to pull out of Japan
THE WORLD'S LARGEST mobile maker has decided to pull out of the largest market on the planet.
Nokia has announced it will stop manufacturing cell phones for NTT DoCoMo and Softbank Mobile.
Nokia executive vice president Timo Ihamuotila said in a statement that his outfit will continue producing its luxury Vertu brand, for now. But the current global economic climate, means that chucking money around investing in Japan-specific localised products is no longer a good idea.
While Nokia has 40 per cent of the worldwide market, Japan is tougher because its consumers want different things from the rest of the world. A nation which wants vending machines to dispense girls knickers installed in its hotels is always going to be a little tricky for company from Finland to understand.
Japan rejected Apple's Iphone 3G for not having enough gimmicks so you know a more serious technology company like Nokia is going to have trouble.
The market is saturated and the Japanese want third-generation networks that have TV broadcasting and electronic payment functions.ยต
L'Inq
Cnet
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Here's a suggestion for Nokia. Let me explain.

Why does Japan reject products from other countries that the rest of the world loves? On the other hand, why does the rest of the world love what Japan exports to them (i.e. Toyotas, Wiis, etc.)? Simple. Japan may be producing products that it doesn't like and exporting it to the rest of the world, knowing that they have a different kind of taste. 

Following the same (stupid) logic, other countries should make something they personally reject and sell it in Japan.

Now is that a great suggestion or what?
Japan is also very protectionistic country. Not easy to penetrate.
if you think japan consists of schoolgirl knickers vending machines you are going to fail quicker than you can say boo. Never seen one in the 8 years I've been here.

Doing business in Japan is about being open minded, using local knowledge (listening to expats that have been here a while) and being adaptive. If you go to Japan with a one size fits all corporate mantra you are going to be in the "lets bleed the naive foreigner before he hightails out" category.