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America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilisation in between. - Oscar Wilde
Iphone still not big in Japan
Now trying to give it away
Friday, 27 February 2009, 15:53
SOFTBANK, the firm plugging the Iphone in Japan, is to begin giving the device away free with a two-year contract.
This contrasts with most of the rest of the world where the fat-of-wallet fork out extra for the popular device.
In Japan the device isn't so popular, however. In fact a Wired hack reckons the Japanese think it's crap. µ
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Yeah, I agree with that! When you make a product that you have to send away to fix a battery that is not replaceable by the user, well it's crap!
one needs only look at the "cellphone of the year" in Japan, the Sharp 931SH, to see why the Iphone isn't doing anything there. Try a 5.x mp camera, bigger touch screen, tv tuner (!!!), *and* it's a slide phone. It's also absolutely gorgeous. Why would anyone in Japan want a phone that is 3 years behind in technology other than for free?
I live in japan i have a iphone and i use a casio from AU kddi, japanese phone are crap, this phones are for a child, the only reason is not papular in japan is because is W63CA japan!! come live here then you will find the truth.
advance!!...hahahaha..with they cell make by motorola, ericsson and the like...hahaha
Oh dear. The Wired journo, Brian Chen has been ridiculed by the very guy who was quoted in the article!
In his own blog, Nobuyuki Hayashi sets the facts straight (Link below)
Looks like Chen went for an attention grabbing headline, and nothing more.
Link: http://blog.nobi.cc/2009/02/my-view-of-how-iphone-is-doing-in-japan-by-nobi-nobuyuki-hayashi.html
And comment: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/28/japanese_hate_for_iphone_all_a_big_mistake.html
Apple fannies and the misquoted Mr. Hayashi (the self-declared "iPhone's biggest advocate in Japan") can say what they want, but Marketing and Sales 101 says that when you have a product everybody wants, you don't give it away for free, do you now?
Oh, for your information, Globe Philippines gives the iPhone away for free too. For a two-year service extension on top of several years of loyalty to the company.
It's a sales tactic, duh.
Finally the Japanese get something right…the iPhone is CRAP! The other smart phone platforms are infinity more powerful and you don’t have Apple forcing their agenda to control you minds through their restrictive app store. The only thing missing from the competing smart phone platforms (Windows Mobile, Symbian, and Android) is a competitive App store but let’s face it; that is probably one of the easiest features to implement. Bottom line, who wants a smart phone that can’t cut and paste or run multiple applications at once? Not me and evidently not the Japanese either.