[Chris Barylick]

Despite the fact that the iPhone has done relatively well, the Japanese aren't feeling the love. According to a new iSHARE study, 91% of adults polled say thay have no plans to buy the device when it becomes available on July 11th. Of the remaining 9% nearly all (8.9% of the total) said they planned to purchase the device. Slightly under half of these are users already signed up for SoftBank, the carrier picked for the initial Japanese launch.

The demand is a slight decrease from nearly a year ago, despite the reduced pricing and features. The iSHARE group noted that about 9.6% were committed in July 2007 to buying an iPhone if made available for their carrier. About 62.2% of the survey group was also seriously considering the device after weighing its features and availability.

The group doesn't offer a direct explanation for the choices reflected in the poll but notes that SoftBank is relatively small in the Japanese wireless marketplace, only 22.9% of those polled claiming they subscribed to the service. Originally, government-backed NTT DoCoMo holds the clearest lead at 39.8% of all the subscribers in the study, while KDDI's au service is used by 26.9% of the group.

Other points brought about during the poll included the lack of a removable battery (77.1% percent of those surveyed claiming they preferred this feature).

Traditionally, Japanese customers have been resistant to adopting non-native phones due to network limitations as well as technological preferences. Japanese networks require 3G cellular service both for calls and data, excluding many 2G-only phones altogether. Most media-intensive phones in the country also focus on services such as the Japan-only 1Seg digital TV standard as well as very high resolution (800x480) displays, neither of which will be available with first-run iPhone 3G models.

Update: MacRumors points out that, while 8.9% is a slight decrease from last year, it is still a highly impressive figure. Assuming it's representative of the population, it would mean that 11 million people in Japan plan to buy the iPhone. More importantly, however, they don't go into any detail on how participants were selected, or for that matter, how many participated, so this really isn't conclusive or representative of anything. What it boils down to is that we'll all just have to wait and see how it does when it launches there.

[Via Tech-On!]

[eclipse]

with all most advanced eletronics coming from Countries such as Japan and Korea..i would expect them not to be that excited about it...iphone is a great phone but they have phones over that would blow your mind.

[WatersWest]

I've heard the same thing. No surprise given that all things tech-related seem to come from there, including (I assume) many of the parts that are put into the iPhone itself.

[Kuma]

As a resident of Japan I have long suspected that this be the case. The iPhone doesn't fit the J. life. I am going to buy it.. but I will keep my J. phone too - I need it for my daily life.

Back in May I wrote this when DoCoMo was the favoured contender. And even though DoCoMo didn't get the deal to become the carrier - the basic principles are the same.

In a nutshell the iPhone lacks too many things that Japanese need/want in their phone. Even with a superior interface - it ultimately is still lacking. If I weren't such an Apple fanboy I think I would pass it over too.

[Kuma]

I just went and read the original article... the headline or article here should be changed.

That is 91% of the target demographic don't intend to buy one. iPhone in Japan - it is going to be a bumpy ride.

[Kuma]

Originally Posted by Chris Barylick

Update: MacRumors points out that, while 8.9% is a slight decrease from last year, it is still a highly impressive figure. Assuming it's representative of the population, it would mean that 11 million people in Japan plan to buy the iPhone. More importantly, however, they don't go into any detail on how participants were selected, or for that matter, how many participated, so this really isn't conclusive or representative of anything. What it boils down to is that we'll all just have to wait and see how it does when it launches there.

[Via Tech-On!]

a little research will show you was interviewed... it is was the

Over the 5th and 6th of June 2008 402 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.5% of the sample was male, 12.2% in their twenties, 43.5% in their thirties, 34.8% in their forties, and 9.5% in their teens or over fifty.

http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/06/1...hone-in-japan/
who originally reported the iPhone...

I have asked everybody I meet.. (over 300 people a week) will they buy an iPhone.. I am yet to get a yes... but I have been told that my barmans boss will buy one.... so that makes 1 sale.

Im sure it will do better than that... but how much better.. I dont know...