A recent survey conducted in Japan shows that 91.0% of Japanese mobile phone users will not purchase the iPhone. This started an avalanche of negative news articles proclaiming iPhone's failure in Japan.

iPhone 3G could flop in Japan
iPhone isn't turning Japanese anytime soon
Study suggests most of Japan not bonkers over iPhone
Survey: Pre-iPhone 3G, just 9 percent of Japan wanted one
and many more...

Now, it took me 30 seconds to find the survey and discover that 8.9% of the respondents said "I am planning to purchase one."

There are over 100 million cell phone subscribers in Japan, so according to this survey, Apple will sell close to 10 million iPhones here. If any spin should be inserted into these headlines, it should be touting the seemingly high-demand of the iPhone, but I guess that negative news probably delivers more page views.

/rant

Note: It looks like only Silicon Valley Insider actually got the story right.
Apple's iPhone 3G Already Looking Big In Japan

I was about to get an iPhone until I found out it would cost a minimum of $70 a month. Yes they raised it from the $60 it used to be.

well when it launched in the US, Apple set the goal as 1% of the market

personally i cant wait for it it will sell alot at 200 dollars here in the states

iphone. PSHHH. It's just an inferior pocket pc with Apple having tight reign over it. BAH HUMBUG.

Originally Posted by Paco iphone. PSHHH. It's just an inferior pocket pc with Apple having tight reign over it. BAH HUMBUG.

LOL! In my experience, Pocket PC phones are crap. My HTC 8525 has to be rebooted constantly and even reboots itself. I'm willing to try the iPhone if it means a stable interface. My only hesitation are AT&T's service plans. Not only are they expensive but if you ever want to make a minor change to your plan (i.e. upgrade the number of minutes) your two year contract starts over.

As a T-mobile customer, I do this all the time. Lifestyles change. Why should we be punished for needing more or fewer minutes?

/ot rant

At any rate, I am looking forward to the iPhone.

yeah, this is rediculous. When you look at how many diffent cell phones are available in Japan 10% of the market with only 2 models (8GB and 16GB) is HUGE. Sometimes these news people think everyone is an idiot and just spin it to add controversy, even when none exists.

I saw one of those same articles and while just glancing over it said "Sucks for Apple." Never even thought about how big the mobile phone market is in Japan.

Anyways, I love my gen 1 iPhone to death. And when you get it, you'll love yours too Cheapy.


P.S. Daphatty, if you can pick up the first gen and not mind the slower internet speed I recommend it. It's cheaper ($20 unlimited data + 200 free texts as opposed to $30 unlimited data and no texts) And the metal backing is more scratch resistant. I've never used a case for it and it's still pristine a year later.

Originally Posted by daphatty LOL! In my experience, Pocket PC phones are crap. My HTC 8525 has to be rebooted constantly and even reboots itself. I'm willing to try the iPhone if it means a stable interface. My only hesitation are AT&T's service plans. Not only are they expensive but if you ever want to make a minor change to your plan (i.e. upgrade the number of minutes) your two year contract starts over. As a T-mobile customer, I do this all the time. Lifestyles change. Why should we be punished for needing more or fewer minutes? /ot rant At any rate, I am looking forward to the iPhone.

Most people never learn to properly tweak it. But you are using Windows Mobile 6 and I"m using Windows Mobile 5. Must be growing pains? But in all honesty, the first thing most people never learn is that pressing the x doesn't close the program. It goes into the background and you have to close it from the memory button. You fix this by getting a program. Another thing that most people never notice is that the more stuff on your today's page the slower it loads and more likely it is to lock up. I keep it minimal.

I need one of those gamepads for it so I have a portable nes/snes wherever I go.

iPhone.. Gah.. I personally don't like it.. but thats just me..

*hugs his Nokia N95-4 8GB*

Asian territory phones are years ahead of our cell phones. Sure we have this cool new iPhone with a fun interface supplemented by a touch screen, but the features are lacking and the price is high. Isn't it true one can get a phone with much better features and great service for less than $100 over there?

well it looks like the price has been set for Japan. "¥23,040 (≈$214) for the 8GB model. The 16GB model will cost ¥34,560 (≈$321)." http://www.tuaw.com/2008/06/23/softb...ing-for-japan/

I just can't get myself to pay $100 a month for service.

Im on CAG 24/7 on my iPhone

Daaaamn. That's pretty insane. I mean, I know that they love to talk about bad news more than good news, but I don't think I've seen them take good news and proclaim it's bad news.

I know I'd sure be happy if my imaginary cell phone was gonna sell 10 million units.

Originally Posted by rodeojones903 I just can't get myself to pay $100 a month for service.

Or $250 for a phone for that matter.

I decided to be reasonable for a change and get an enV2 for $100 on my current Verizon plan instead of having to switch to AT&T and then paying $30 for the service.

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I thought the phones in Japan are light years ahead of anything in the states.

well, sounds like they had a pretty big line (1000 ppl) and sold out. Were you able to snag one Cheapy?


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080711/...vp82i2ydcjtBAF

btw, 2.0 firmware is pretty nice, i love being able to jack into my work wifi now and stream music. Some free apps becoming $5 is kind of a bummer, but hey, gotta pay to play.

i got my iphone love it

it is the Jesus phone

Originally Posted by rodeojones903 I just can't get myself to pay $100 a month for service.

since the price plan drop i've been considering purchasing one, but i'd like to give one a test drive first. i love how every damn ketai shop in tokyo has a display but no actual iphone to screw around with. bad.