iPhone in Japan
04 Jun 2008 |Just as I was getting ready to post a rant about Japanese cell phones, some great news hit my mailbox. The iPhone will be making it’s way to Japan sometime this year and it will be via my current carrier, Softbank!
Such good news. I was getting worried that we’d have to switch carriers over to NTT Docomo, but it looks like we’re safe! Phew! Anyways, if you still want to read my rant you can click this link:
Oh? So you want to read the rant, huh? OK! Just remember that I’ve been writing this over the course of the week and some (most?) of it is irrelevant now.
Begin rant:
Japan seems to be widely regarded as the leader in cell phone technology and it’s hard to disagree. We certainly do have some nice phones here. Sure I had to wait for almost 3 years for a Bluetooth phone to come out here, but now most phones have it in addition to built in digital TV, GPS and up to 5.1 megapixel cameras. Nice indeed, but you know what? I just don’t care anymore.
I’ve been using the same cell phone for almost two years now. It’s not that I don’t want to switch to a new handset, I do! Really bad, in fact. It’s just that Japanese phone companies have a real racket going on over here and I got caught up in it. You see, phone rates are cheap, but handsets are mega expensive!!! You may only pay as little as $15.00 USD per month for your usage, but they trap you into paying up to $35.00 USD for the loan on your phone!!!
So? Why do you have to have a loan for the phone in the first place, huh? Simple… It’s hard to plop down over $700.00 for a new handset! That’s right!!! $700.00 for a base model!!! Are they insane??? Most phones have the same features and chipsets, so I’m not buying the excuse that the cost is due to R&D or manufacturing. The sad thing is, most people just don’t realize how bad they are being ripped off. All people seem to want here is the newest, greatest technology. It’s digital fashion in a sense and people are willing to pay for it. It’s totally not uncommon to see people with two cell phones on a daily basis. The second phone may be for work, but I have to wonder if they didn’t just buy a new cell and continue to use the old one because of their lasting loans.
So? Why the lengthy rant, you ask? I guess the reason is because of the Apple iPhone. You see, I have never even held a real iPhone until just last weekend because we don’t have it in Japan yet and I haven’t been back to America since before its release. That’s right! In the land of awesome cell phones we have no iPhone! Well, not yet anyways.
There have been tons of rumors lately about the imminent release of a 3G iPhone so it isn’t beyond reason to assume that it will make it to Japan soon. Well, if things go smoothly with the Japanese carriers, that is. I’d say it cause for alarm for people who can’t wait for a 3G Japanese iPhone, though. I mean, why would Japanese companies want to sell a arguably superior product at a fraction of the cost of their current lineups? Wouldn’t that totally undermine their entire business model? A $500.00 iPhone versus a $700.00 standard Japanese phone? I’m sure people in America think the iPhone is pricey, but in Japan it’s a bargain! I wonder which one the average Japanese consumer would actually buy though… The iPod is super popular here and interest in Apple is high, but Japanese people sure do like Japanese products. The whole situation boggles the mind.
Well, I’ll keep my ears open for news of a Japanese iPhone, but honestly I’m not holding my breath for a timely release. There have been some recent rumors that NTT Docomo might carry the phone as early as June, but I’ll be surprised if that actually happens. I was really hoping that my current carrier, Softbank, would get it. They seem the more likely choice to me, anyways. Well, if it does come out on NTT, I guess I’ll be switching.
Yeah, like I said… I don’t care. Umm… Yeah…
June 18th, 2008 at 12:05 am
So just to get this straight…the pricing plans are a bargain but at the same time the customer is charged on a monthly basis for the phone itself? No free phones then like in the U.S.?
Interesting if so!