I want YOUR views on the iPhone in Japan

[eighty5er]

Hi !

I'm doing a market analysis on possible export of the Apple iPhone to Japan as a college project.

I need feedback from people residing in Japan, so if you'd like please post your answers to this short questionnaire. Any additional feedback is welcome of course. Thanks a bunch.

1. Could you give your take on the importance of mobile phones in Japan?
2. What is the average lifespan of a mobile phone in Japan?
3. What features on mobile phones are important for consumers in Japan?
4. What factors are important motivations for consumers in Japan to buy luxury products such as mobile phones?
5. What do consumers in Japan generally think about the Apple iPhone?
6. How much would you say consumers in Japan are willing to pay for an Apple iPhone?
7. Do you think it will be successful? Please motivate?
8. Which features, important to the consumers of Japan, do you find lacking in the Apple iPhone?
9. Do you think the touch screen interface will be accepted by consumers in Japan?
10. Do u think the fact the Apple iPhone is not a Japanese product will be a hindrance for Japanese people to buy it?
11. Would you, as a consumer in Japan, still buy the Apple iPhone even if it does not support 3G technology?

[INDENT][/INDENT]

[Buraku]

1 As important as your wallet, pet dog etc
2 About 4 months
3 Can it make purikura, do hentai downloads etc
4 pass
5 Apple good, but its better to buy something locally produced
6 45,000 yen if its good and if its got a japanese name
7 No, see X-box
8 Bla
9 Yes
10 Bingo, give it a nihongo name and you might pull the wool over their eyes for a spell
11 Undecided

[xenomorph42]

1. About 90% of the Japanese pop. uses them, therefore, cellphones are a complete MUST!
2. Depends...case by case for me about 18 months, but I`m a frugal guy.
3. Any and everything, that probably most westerners would consider boring.
4. Cellphone luxury item???? Never knew that one. Are they diamond studded?
5. Many Japanese don't have a clue about Apple and think Windows is the best since everyone uses them, makes sense to them. At times, they can be stubborn to change.
6. Nothing over \40.000, you might have a shot(except for the die hard enthusiasts)
7. Hmmm, difficult to say...Japanese are extremely picky.
8. Ergonomics.
9. Hell, yea!:D
10. could very well be. Ex. the old Vodafone designs were a disaster and failed miserably in Japan. Now as SoftBank, they are slowly making a comeback...again, slowly. Trust is a big thing in Japan.
11. Maybe, depends.

[Taro Toporific]

Check out the blog, What Japan Thinks for real surveys of how Japanese view iPhones and their attitudes towards mobile phones in general.

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My diehard cellphone hater answers...
1. Having mobile phone in Japan is Life itself---Those without are not humans.
2. Somewhere around 8 months is the average lifespan of a mobile phone in Japan.
3. Smallness, PASMO and e-wallet, 1-seg TV, camera, emoji, fashionable appearance are the important features.
4. Mobile phones are not a luxury product in Japan.
5. Consumers in Japan are very curious about the Apple iPhone.
6. Japanese are willing to pay up to 40,000-45,000 yen for an iPhone.
7. The iPhone will be successful if Apple gets a major carrier to support it properly.
8. Right now language features in the iPhone are missing. The phone must be able to handle PASMO (wireless train pass) and e-wallet functions are needed. The so-called 1Seg TV will be expected since the iPhone is for video viewing.
9. The touch screen interface is not as useful as the numeric keypad for entry of Japanese words. Many Japanese have more than a decade of practice in "10-key" input and the touch screen interface is slower for them.
10. Although the iPhone is not a Japanese product, Japanese will buy it if it "works" for them and it continues with its hyped, fashionable-upscale image.
11. No sane person in Japan will buy the 2.5G iPhone without 3G technology. Nobody wants to downgrade from 3G services, which are the norm, to passe 2.5G especially since 3.5G services are gearing up. If there's a HUGE discount in access fees for flat rate 2.5G service only a few weirdos will use the iPhone similar to the handful of users of Willcom. (I use Willcom from time to time only for data not voice because I'm cheapskate.)

[FG Lurker]

I'm doing a market analysis on possible export of the Apple iPhone to Japan as a college project.

I need feedback from people residing in Japan, so if you'd like please post your answers to this short questionnaire. Any additional feedback is welcome of course. Thanks a bunch.

1. On a sacle of 1-10? 11.
2. 6 months to 2 years depending on the person. This may increase now as the carriers are no longer subsidizing the phones quite so heavily.
3. Being able to use the phone with one hand is important for a lot of people as they use their phones on the train. One hand to hang onto a pole/strap on the train, one hand for the phone. Standard 0-9 keypad as most people have become quite adept at emailing with this layout. Strong kanji support, especially word prediction. From a software standpoint, proper support for the online system used by the carrier selling the phone (iMode etc)
4. Much like everywhere in the world, "Keeping up with the Joneses"
5. I doubt there is much interest as it does not really fit the way most Japanese use their phones. PDA-style phones in general do not sell well here.
6. Mute point as I do not think it will sell particularly well here.
7. No. See above.
8. The design iPhone does not fit the way the typical Japanese phone buyer uses their phone. See above.
9. No.
10. Not directly as such, but most non-Japanese phones do not sell well here as their designs and/or interfaces do not fit the way most Japanese use their phones. Nokia, Motorola, Palm, Samsung, etc all have market shares in Japan that rate from zero to minuscule.
11. No way. 3G is a definite must for me as I periodically use my mobile to connect a PC to the Internet.

[GomiGirl]

Please note that the point of view of an FG is different to what you will find from the average Japanese person.

Sorry but I really don't feel it is appropriate for me to comment on your questions due to my job but the others are making some excellent points.

I will say though, the Japanese language support must NOT be an after thought - "oh we had better put some japanese characters in there so those Japanese people can use our American device" and not give any thought to syntax and native speaker usability.

If you want to talk to me privately I am happy to assist, but my company was the original importer and distributor of the Apple Newton back in the day so I can't comment on the iPhone on a public forum.

[Taro Toporific]

5. I doubt there is much interest as it does not really fit the way most Japanese use their phones. PDA-style phones in general do not sell well here.
[/LIST]

I assume that the iPhone will be marketed as a video iPod that's also a keitai, not a PDA (old fashioned image). PDA-style phones are despised in Japan as are ketai with real keyboards (Blackberry has no sales in Japan and will never have).

[FG Lurker]

I assume that the iPhone will be marketed as a video iPod that's also a keitai, not a PDA (old fashioned image). PDA-style phones are despised in Japan as are ketai with real keyboards

I agree they will market it as you mention, I'm just not sure it will work. I think the lack of a number pad will kill it as a phone for most people here due to the input difficulties.

(Blackberry has no sales in Japan and will never have).

You can get crackberries here through DoCoMo corporate. I think they support Japanese input now too, but they didn't at first. Definitely not an item with mass-market appeal.

[Taro Toporific]

(Blackberry has no [color="Red"][significant][/color] sales in Japan and will never have).

You can get crackberries here through DoCoMo corporate. I think they support Japanese input now too, but they didn't at first. Definitely not an item with mass-market appeal.

Yep, we discussed this in length before. Gaijin lust over keyboard input--Japanese want one-handed input so they can wank or hold onto subway straps).

What's a decent alternative to a Blackberry in Japan?

[Doctor Stop]

11. Would you, as a consumer in Japan, still buy the Apple iPhone even if it does not support 3G technology?

3G or not, as there is no GSM service in Japan an iPhone would be useless as a phone here. I wouldn't buy one.

[duke]

I agree, if it aint 3G then it defo aint workin in Nihon! no wayz

That retard needs to do some research and realise that mobiles in Japan are, 3G only .................

[eighty5er]

Thanks to everyone who gave their 2 cents, your feedback will make a great addition to the report.