iPhone 3G not such a big hit in Japan
Given how technologically advanced the people out in Japan are, you’d expect iPhone 3G sales there to be very strong. But as it turns out, Japanese telecom operator Softbank Corp. hasn’t exactly been able to experience the same high-demand that there is for the iPhone in other markets, like say, the United States.
Apparently, the iPhone 3G fails to impress the lot of Japanese consumers partly because of its very high asking price and because most people in Japan already have very sophisticated cellphones to begin with.
Softbank Corp. has about 19.5 million wireless subscribers in Japan, but in the first two months of its sale, market-research firm MM Research Institute estimates that only 200,000 iPhone 3G’s have been sold so far.
Clearly the high retail price affects a consumer’s purchasing decision, but an analyst for GfK Marketing Services Japan Ltd. says that Japanese users “don’t know what to do with an iPhone.” Perhaps Apple should start shooting iPhone 3G guided tours with a Japanese-speaking person, don’t you think?
Via WSJ
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