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iPhone; Success or Not

Astroboy

先輩
5 Dec 2007
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Jul. 11--TOKYO -- Can Apple Inc.'s iPhone become another blockbuster in gadget-loving Japan, like the iPod music player?

Some say that iPhone 3G has a good chance for success, considering the strong interest shown by Japanese consumers ahead of its launch. But others remain calm and say people here, who already use cellphones for TV, e-money and a train pass, may not be as surprised at the high-tech functions of the new gadget as much as overseas consumers.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

I use mobile phone for train pass as well as e-cash, plus 1seg TV. So, I am not interested in iPhone. Do you like to buy it?
 
I already have a ipod touch and a sony mobile phone, but I want to have an iphone, so I don't need to carry the two items separately.
 
I am not too crazy about the design. I expect a bit more from Apple in that department.
 
I love my iPhone. It's easy to use, it's compatible with my iPod, and mac laptop. As for the shape, I am not thrilled. It's a flat rectangle and kinda awkward, but since I am usually texting or on the internet it's not a big deal...that was more important to me than the actual phone part! The phone is just an "add on" to me....I think of it more as a pocket computer! :) way cool!
 
I bought the new iPhone on the day it was released. Aside from a few inconveniences, such as not being able to cut and paste, I am quite impressed with it.
 
The iPhone looks really cool, but I don't need it. I use my mobile primarily for sending emails, and I don't need all those extra bells and whistles to do that. In other words, although I wouldn't mind having one, it's much more phone than I would ever use.
 
Sounds great really, I would actually buy it if is was about one fifth of its actual price.
No way I would give that much for a cellphone or a mp3 player.
 
Dont really care for it. I dont use an Apple MP3 player and have no intention of buying one let alone its iPhone. I have no need to access the internet or my email or whatever on the run so its wi fi features dont interest me. Everyone is gushing over it and I really cannot see why it is such a big deal. Smartphones have been around for yonks. I use my mobile phone for SMS messaging and calling and thats all I need.

As for whether it was a success or not...they're pretty successful in Australia I'd say. I saw no point in lining up at the store at 6AM just to get one though. Absolute madness.
 
At 6am, there were already 1300 people lined up for the iPhone at a store in Tokyo. A lot had camped out for two or three days prior to the release. I was fortunate that there weren't a lot of people lined up at the shop when I got there at 11am. I was number 7 in line, and I think that shop had just 10 iPhone's, as soon after I entered the shop, a sign was put out saying they were sold out. It's all good for me, as I've no longer got to go to the Internet cafe.
 
success

Well, the new iPhone had a spectacular launch--sold over 1 million units since last Friday worldwide. Way to go, Steve Jobs.👍 I think it's cool, flashy, and was tempted to get one.

But I need my mobile Suica and Edy Money e-oney functions--I've become dependent on them. And I didn't want to lose the discount on monthly payments that I've earned with docomo (in fact, I just got added discounts by signing up for a 2 yr plan). And then there's a fatal flaw, nowhere to hang my Totoro charm. :p

The handwritten kanji recognition function on the iPhone almost made me get one, though.


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picture.php
 
The handwritten kanji recognition function on the iPhone almost made me get one, though.
huhh? whats that?!

I have an iPhone. It's extremely useful, i just wish i had rikaichan on it so im not so helpless when i try to study japanese online, on the go. :p
oh well, but i can practice kanji and kana with the doodling app and stuff. overall its a good phone. I dont know how good it is compared to keitai.
 
According to a Japanese press, SOFTBANK (the Japanese marketer iPhone) has been desparate to shore up for selling iPhone as it deoes not sell well for the past month.
SOFTBANK revised the price of subscription recently. SOFTBANK planned to sell one million in Japan in a year, but it is said that 0.1 million would be the best assumption at the moment.
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/economy/it/080813/its0808130652000-n1.htm

As I said, 3G iPhone is not novelty in Japan. I am more confident that Apple will fail.
 
I bought a Softbank Internet Machine earlier this year and have no interest in switching. The Internet Machine has a QWERTY keyboard and is very easy to type on. If I set it on a table, I can type with 3 or 4 fingers simultaneously. I can't get my computer to recognize it for data transfer but that's not really a big deal.

I tried the iphone in a store and had problems using the touch screen. The Apple designers obviously did not have women with delicate tapered fingers and long nails in mind when they invented this thing. It would be nice to have a phone that worked seamlessly with my computer (a Mac) but the touch screen is a deal-breaker. I can't use it without a stylus, and even with a stylus I couldn't reach the typing speeds I get on the Internet Machine.
 
Boom begins to sputter for iPhone

The iPhone 3G, the latest mobile phone handset from Apple Inc. of the U.S., has already begun to show signs of a sales slowdown, one month after its debut, with the once hard-to-come-by item readily available at a number of stores nationwide.... Nikkei said.

iPhone 3G is likely to fail in Japan.
 
I'm waiting for Sony's Iphone killer, Xperia, to hit the market. Unfortunately, Sony chose to use Windows Mobile 6 software for the phone and it doesn't work!! So I'll have to wait till next year.
 
I was waiting for the xperia1, but I caught wind of some problems with winMO and yet another delay, and it was the straw that broke the camel's back. So I got an iPhone 3g a couple days ago.

Initial impressions are that it's an amazingly sleek device. I thought it would be too big but it actually fits very nicely in my hand and pocket. The interface is very intuitive and makes good use of the touch screen. The GPS is a god-send, especially since I took it to San Francisco the other day and I don't know the city real well. It could use true turn-by-turn instructions, which may come in the future. As a graphic designer, the ability to manage and display my photos and work on a portable device gives me the chance to share my portfolio wherever I am. I can take notes, make appointments, and task lists, and sync them to my computer. Not to mention the iPod functionality; I haven't even played with the video features yet. This is my first phone with a web browser, which is pretty handy.

The other nice thing about it is that there are so many accessories for it, and now that the SDK is out, lots of apps that can be pretty darn useful. I'm pretty excited about what I'm capable of doing with this thing.

My only complaints so far have been:
  • Battery life. I took it to SF with me and it lasted from 10AM to 11PM before the battery died. This isn't too bad, considering how heavily I used it and all the features I had been using, but it would be nice if I could use it for an entire day without having to worry about it dying on me.
The features I'm missing:
  • A2DP (stereo bluetooth).
  • Cut and paste would be nice, but I haven't been using the phone long enough to really miss this.
  • A removable battery would've come in handy the other night.
  • Removable storage and more memory. 16GB is pretty sparse by today's standards.
  • Yeah, it's not cheap.
  • People's opinions. This seems to be a pretty polarizing device, and people love to preach their opinion to you. They also assume that you are equally opinionated, and that the fact that you have an iPhone means you're a "Mac" person. I'm no big Apple fan, but this is a pretty handy device, and so far I'm unimpressed with the competition.

It has its flaws, but so far it seems worth the cost. Just one man's opinion. As for the Japanese market, I can see a lot of drawbacks that will hurt the phone. My main concern would be the touch-screen keypad, which isn't responsive enough, and too far removed from the input method the Japanese customers are used to. I've heard some complaints about its usability, but I think that's mainly because the iPhone is just so different from what people are used to. It does have its niche, but it's not like the iPhone is really going to rock the boat or take Japan by storm.
 
Boom begins to sputter for iPhone
iPhone 3G is likely to fail in Japan.

Would you be happy if it actually did fail, Astroboy?

I think it's great to have more diversity in the Japanese market.

And after all, foreign mobile phone technology arrived in Japan quite a long time ago... many of the excellent Japanese 3G FOMA phones are already based on the Symbian operating system from the UK.
 
Would you be happy if it actually did fail, Astroboy?
I think it's great to have more diversity in the Japanese market.
And after all, foreign mobile phone technology arrived in Japan quite a long time ago... many of the excellent Japanese 3G FOMA phones are already based on the Symbian operating system from the UK.

OH NO! My first computer was Apple notebook, and I am a big fun of Apple's iPod.

But I heard that Japanese mobile phone market was said "Galapagos" because it is developed uniquely, only in Japan. But I am realzing that the Japanese mobile phone market was actually being in the next-generation.

It's not a matter of Made-in-What, but which is better.

many of the excellent Japanese 3G FOMA phones are already based on the Symbian operating system from the UK.

Thank you for letting me know that! UK-Japanese combination is still valid in many fields. Let's keep doing in that way.
 
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Weak iPhone sales

Japan also leads the rest of the world in 3G (third generation) mobile phone proliferation, with almost 104 million 3G handsets in use. So Apple's iPhone, in comparison, is nothing revolutionary - as Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs described the phone.

The Japanese are clearly not as impressed as global consumers, and sales of the iPhone have slumped by a third only a few months after its launch.
BBC NEWS | Business | Japan's phone firms eye global move

Now the world has been realizing the reason WHY iPhone is not well received in Japan.
 
Does anyone know if I got an iPhone through Softbank here would I be able to bring it back with me and use it in Canada when I move back next year? I mean will it just be a matter of changing providers or is there something about the Softbank iPhone that makes it only usable with Softbank?

Thanks very much,
maikunari

:)
 
Does anyone know if I got an iPhone through Softbank here would I be able to bring it back with me and use it in Canada when I move back next year? I mean will it just be a matter of changing providers or is there something about the Softbank iPhone that makes it only usable with Softbank?
Thanks very much,
maikunari
:)

You would be tied to Softbank and thus unable to use any other USIM card.

Unless of course you're able to illegally 'unlock' the phone.
 
Almost everyone I know who purchased one is disappointed in it in one way or another from not being able to access e-mail and downloading pictures to dropped service and other inconveniences. Glad I did not purchase one.
 
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