Filed under: Forecasts, Deals, Consumer experience, Apple Inc (AAPL), iPhone, Japan, Technology
In some ways, Wall Street should be surprised that it did not happen sooner. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is speaking to cellular carriers about launching the iPhone in Japan. In the country that created the Walkman and PlayStation, it would seem only logical that a tech gadget like the iPhone would be a massive success.
Japan is known for its obsession with cellphones. It is a massive market for text applications and ringtones.
The Wall Street Journal writes that Apple is in talks with NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM), the largest carrier in Japan, and Softbank. The Japanese market has “nearly 100 million mobile-phone users who buy new phones each two years on average. Japanese consumers are also already used to shelling out hundreds of dollars for expensive phones with advanced capabilities such as digital TV, camera and music,” according to the paper.
It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that Apple could sell 5 million iPhones in Japan within a year or two of the launch. If deals in the U.S. and Europe are any indication, the huge U.S. consumer electronics company could get as much as $400 for each handset and a piece of the calling plan revenue from its local carrier.
The biggest drawback to the current iPhone, especially in a market like Japan, is that it isn’t a 3G device and can’t take advantage of the fastest networks yet. Rumors are that a 3G iPhone will debut in the first half of 2008.
If Jobs & Co. have made any real mistake in launching the iPhone, it is that it is too slow to take advantage of many of the wireless world’s most advanced, high-speed technologies. In Japan, it will be a must.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com
Related:
The advancement in technologies has made many things accessible for the common man. One of these things is camera. Camera is becoming as common as a cell phone. People are now interested in digital camera as compare to ordinary camera. You can find out all the digital camera reviews over the web very easily. There are several brands like nikon digital cameras which provide reliable and satisfactory results. Other include cameras like kodak camera which is a Japanese product and very reliable as well. With the changing time camera applications and accessories are also changed now camera obscura is replaced by new and stylish digital cameras applications. You can take freeway camera images with your digital camera like Yashika and canon cameras.
Entries (RSS)