Nokia stops selling phones in Japan

[Taiko666]

Nokia has announced it's making no more phones for the Japanese market. It does, however, intend to introduce its 'Vertu' jewel-encrusted ultra-luxury device to Japan.

Shame really; my Nokia seems to out-perform my Japanese friends' phones... hardly surprising, since Japanese 3G Foma phones use the same 70% Nokia-owned Symbian OS from the UK, albeit with stripped-down, closed, proprietry user interfaces.

It's true Nokia phones in Japan have lacked Japanese TV and electronic payments functionality. However, Nokia has the technology and uses it in other handsets worldwide, so I'm guessing there was some other reason why agreements to operate these services in Japan were not forthcoming.

Anyway, I'll continue to use my Nokia E71 in Japan! If I move to a Japanese handset or even an i-Stone I'll be missing WLAN, Bluetooth, full bi-lingual support, GPS, FM Radio, 'real' internet browsing, multi-tasking, a 5 mpix camera, plus the ability to install a UK TV player...

 

[Astroboy]

Nokia has announced it's making no more phones for the Japanese market. It does, however, intend to introduce its 'Vertu' jewel-encrusted ultra-luxury device to Japan.
Shame really; my Nokia seems to out-perform my Japanese friends' phones... hardly surprising, since Japanese 3G Foma phones use the same 70% Nokia-owned Symbian OS from the UK, albeit with stripped-down, closed, proprietry user interfaces.
It's true Nokia phones in Japan have lacked Japanese TV and electronic payments functionality. However, Nokia has the technology and uses it in other handsets worldwide, so I'm guessing there was some other reason why agreements to operate these services in Japan were not forthcoming.
Anyway, I'll continue to use my Nokia E71 in Japan! If I move to a Japanese handset or even an i-Stone I'll be missing WLAN, Bluetooth, full bi-lingual support, GPS, FM Radio, 'real' internet browsing, multi-tasking, a 5 mpix camera, plus the ability to install a UK TV player...

Cannot be helped .... as Japan is known as ﾂ"Galapagos Islandﾂ" for its closed mobile phone infrastructure, which has developed in its own way, isolated from other countries.

 

[Taiko666]

Cannot be helped .... as Japan is known as ﾂ"Galapagos Islandﾂ" for its closed mobile phone infrastructure, which has developed in its own way, isolated from other countries.

That used to be the case, but Japan has adopted 3G W/CDMA, the worldwide standard.

There are now no technical barriers to prevent foreign phone makers succeeding in Japan; only cultural ones.

 

[butakun]

You seem to be blaming Japan for the failure of NOKIA. I believe this is purely a business decision. Japanese mobile market is a saturated market, and they cannot justify the development cost of catering just to the Japanese market which is not that big overall, considering the market size NOKIA operates in. Not all Japanese carriers use WCDMA, AU follows Qualcomm's CDMA2000 standard. I do not know of any NOKIA phone worldwide capable of one-seg reception, either and you do not depend on other companies/authorities for this. The fact is that they did not have the products the local consumers wanted.

The consumers not trusting NOKIA brand, for example, that could be said to be "cultural". (I don't know if this is the case). But that's just part of the game. This is exactly what Japanese automakers are facing in continental Europe.

 

[undrentide]

I do not know about other markets, but as far as Japanese market is concerned, the models NOKIA is offering are rather limited and not so attractive compared with other brands...

The latest Nokia phones and accessories | Nokia Phones US
Nokia

http://www.sonyericsson.co.jp/product/index.html
Sony
http://www.sanyo-keitai.com/
Sanyo
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/product/etsg/cmt/model/index_j.htm
Toshiba
スマートフォン・携帯電話 | 京セラ
Kyocera
http://www.sharp.co.jp/products/menu/phone/cellular/
Sharp
http://panasonic.jp/mobile/
Panasonic
just for example.

 

[Taiko666]

I do not know about other markets, but as far as Japanese market is concerned, the models NOKIA is offering are rather limited and not so attractive compared with other brands...
The latest Nokia phones and accessories | Nokia Phones US
Nokia
http://www.sonyericsson.co.jp/product/index.html
Sony
รอบรู้ วาไรตี้ และ ความบันเทิง – sanyo-keitai.com
Sanyo
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/product/etsg/cmt/model/index_j.htm
Toshiba
スマートフォン・携帯電話 | 京セラ
Kyocera
SH DASH：シャープ
Sharp
携帯電話 P-01J | ドコモ | Panasonic
Panasonic
just for example.

This is part of the cultural aspect I mentioned. The Nokia N95 is more capable than most of the phones on those sites, however, it doesn't come in pastel pink. Obviously this was an oversight on Nokia's behalf. I think that's what Nokia have finally realised; it doesn't matter what your phone can do, it's how cute it is that matters. That's why they're going to sell the Nokia Vertu in Japan. It's a sort of Louis Vuitton in the mobile phone world, and will probably be a success. BTW, I hate to bang on about it, but lots of those phones on thoses sites run almost exactly the same software as found in Nokia phones (Symbian OS.) The guts of these wonderful Japanese devices are actually made in London.


I think it's widely accepted that foreign companies can have a hard time breaking through in Japan. Even the uber-cool iPhone is having a tough time. Japanese consumers seem to like to stick with the 'safe' options- anything with a Japanese name on it. And striking up agreements with Japanese stakeholders to offer things such as electronic cash services is extremely difficult. I think it's for these reasons that Japan has become the only developed country in the world devoid of Nokia phones.

 

[pipokun]

Nokia concentrating on super-rich Serebu
It might be true...
No need of keitai for the super rich Serebu to equip with wallet to go shopping at convini or to take a train;
no need of digital TV function in such a small display;
no need of i-mode, the Internet, because they do not need to search something on the Internet by themselves. Instead, they just call concierge.

It is, perhaps, minimum functions that the super-rich people need...

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ﾆ短ﾆ椎槌置ﾅ津ｼ窶堋ｯ窶堙??堋?窶堙ｪ窶堙篠、ﾅ暖窶佚鯛?彭ﾋ彙窶堙娯?ｹ@窶拿窶堙債催?渉ｬﾅ津?窶堙??堙ｦ窶堋｢窶堙娯?堋ｩ窶堙?窶堋ｵ窶堙ｪ窶堙遺?堋｢ﾂ。
http://it.nikkei.co.jp/mobile/news/index.aspx?n=MMIT0f001027112008&landing=Next
http://it.nikkei.co.jp/mobile/news/index.aspx?n=MMIT0f001027112008&type=largephoto&ps=5

The top-end model is to be professionally handcrafted by not German or Swiss craftsmen, but British ones. I know the British craftsmanship is as great as in other European nations, but I wonder how traditional it would be to produce mobile phones in the UK. Is it as traditional as their great handmade shoemakers?

 

[undrentide]

This is part of the cultural aspect I mentioned. The Nokia N95 is more capable than most of the phones on those sites,

I agree with you, it is a question of different preference and tastes.
Different market, different demand. And if one wants to penetrate the market and stay there, one should offer what the market wants.

Hmm... I might be overlooking something, but for example, I cannot find any Nokia phone with the function to receive the one-segment broadcasting... (Honestly I don't want this function myself, but offering a wide range of products is important in business, so users that can choose what they want.)
And I cannot find any folding types - which is the mainstream in Japan.
I like the folding type myself, because it allows bigger the size of the buttons, bigger screen while keeping the whole size of the phone small and compact.

Out of curiosity; do these non-folding type phones have a key or something to prevent hitting keys by accident when it is in a pocket or bag...?
If there's anyone using Nokia type phone, please enlighten me.

 

[Taiko666]

I agree with you, it is a question of different preference and tastes.
Different market, different demand. And if one wants to penetrate the market and stay there, one should offer what the market wants.
Hmm... I might be overlooking something, but for example, I cannot find any Nokia phone with the function to receive the one-segment broadcasting... (Honestly I don't want this function myself, but offering a wide range of products is important in business, so users that can choose what they want.)
And I cannot find any folding types - which is the mainstream in Japan.
I like the folding type myself, because it allows bigger the size of the buttons, bigger screen while keeping the whole size of the phone small and compact.
Out of curiosity; do these non-folding type phones have a key or something to prevent hitting keys by accident when it is in a pocket or bag...?
If there's anyone using Nokia type phone, please enlighten me.

Nokia has many folding types; the Nokia N93 and N93i were actually designed in Japan, although not sold here by the carriers.

The non-folding types are popular all over the world, and seem to be rather trendy in Japan. The keys typically auto-lock after a set time period.
Again, Nokia as the mobile TV technology; the N77 is already on sale in Taiwan.

The mobile industry in Japan is dominated by the carriers (DoCoMo, Softbank, AU.) A handset maker has to jump through all sorts of hoops to be granted the privilege of having a carrier sell its phones. And the carrier can dictate which services the phone offers. Not so in the rest of the world, where the handset makers are largely in control. The brand is the handset, not the carrier.