With research earlier this month finding that a surprising 27.6-percent of Japanese cellphone users would buy an iPhone if it were to become available in their country, SecuMania takes a closer look at the mature, technically-advanced and, at times, bizarre market that Apple will tackle with their iPhone launch there next year. There seems to be an odd balance of admiration at the new cellphone and shame that it wasn’t a Japanese manufacturer that came up with it:
“I have been very proud of Japanese mobile phones, but this time, I have an uneasy feeling. I am very sorry Japanese manufacturers didn’t produce a phone like this” Shunichi Kita, Nomura Research Institute Consultant
At times it’s a telling insight into how Japanese society – and the whims of users – has evolved around the ubiquitous mobile:
“”The iPhone’s broad and easily accessible screen could actually be a liability in Japan,” says Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. Japanese are “accustomed to doing more in smaller spaces – and keeping things to themselves. The (pornographic comics) you download on the subway may be all too visible to your neighboring commuter” if you’re using an iPhone” SecuMania
In terms of carriers, just as European networks are remaining tight-lipped about deals with Apple, the major players in the Japanese market refuse to be drawn. It looks like Apple have plenty of time to push for their usual revenue-milking deal.
As an American living in Japan. I can tell you that the Japanese have no problem with letting their neighboring commuter, know that they are looking at poronography. All the major sports newspapers have graphic pornographic images on the back & inside pages. They Japanese businessman, reads these with pride on long commutes on very crowded trains, for all to see. It is not unusual at all to see naked woman and ads for call girls. Plus there are ads on the trains for porno mags and young busty girls in bikins. The iphone will be smaller and more private than a newspaper stuck in your face! Has Roland Kelts ever lived in Tokyo!?
[quote comment="7400"]As an American living in Japan. I can tell you that the Japanese have no problem with letting their neighboring commuter, know that they are looking at poronography. All the major sports newspapers have graphic pornographic images on the back & inside pages. The Japanese businessman, reads these with pride on long commutes on very crowded trains, for all to see. It is not unusual at all to see naked woman and ads for call girls. Plus there are ads on the trains for porno mags and young busty girls in bikins. The iphone will be smaller and more private than a newspaper stuck in your face! Has Roland Kelts ever lived in Tokyo!?[/quote]
As someone who once worked with Roland, I can tell you he worked and lived in Tokyo, and I too am surprised to see him make such a glaring oversight. Jim is correct that Japanese men often have no problem with neighbors seeing smut they’re reading on the trains; the only out I can imagine is that maybe there’s a subset of men who are less bold and hide what they’re reading… but I doubt it.
Actually, Japanese commuters (particularly women) are far more privacy-seeking when it comes to text messaging; a popular accessory for a cell phone here is a thin film of plastic that goes over your mobile’s screen and makes it hard to see what’s on it from an angle… which would also render meaningless Roland’s theory. Anyone shy of people seeing what’s on the iPhone’s screen would simply use one of those screen guards.
It is strange to me that so many people who comments on the iPhone coming to Japan think that Japanese people will not like the device for some reason, which is why the main gist of this article made so much sense to me. I think there’s a knee-jerk reaction that since mobiles in Japan are profuse and packed with features, the iPhone will seem so two-years-ago over here.
Well, I visited a cell phone shop recently, and frankly, I didn’t see anything that had what the iPhone had: a simple interface. If anything, that’s the potential downfall of the iPhone… as well as its potential draw. Kind of like VCR’s with a zillion functions, people get tired of not knowing how the hell to operate their machines. Maybe people in Japan go for the zillion-feature sales point, but most people I have spoken to don’t *use* most of those features.
And while there are touch-screen mobiles out there, none have the beauty and simplicity of Apple’s interface; they ten to use styluses, and have bad interfaces. There are several which have slide-out keyboards, and maybe a lot of people prefer that.
As for price, I was kind of surprised at that point–a lot of cell phones in Japan, especially the full-screen ones, tend to be expensive, even with subsidization. I just saw a phone yesterday at the PHS store priced at about $400, and there are certainly ones which are even more expensive than that. Many Japanese will invest a lot of money into such devices. I think everyone *wants* to pay no more than $200 for a cell phone, but so many here *do* pay more than that.
I think that the iPhone has the kind of potential in Japan that the above-mentioned study indicates. If anything, Apple’s problem will be in dealing with the service providers, as mentioned in the article. There’s not the massive interest in the iPhone here that was present in the U.S. What I am afraid of is that this sticking point will cause the iPhone to be delayed well past early next year, and we in Japan will be the last to get that device.