In Japan, iPhones are now free
The price of an iPhone in Japan can't get much lower than this.
Starting Friday, Softbank Mobile, the exclusive carrier of Apple's (AAPL) smartphone in Japan, will give anyone who signs a two-year contract a free 8GB iPhone 3G. If customers prefer the 16GB model, that will cost them $118 (reduced from $350).
Writing for CrunchGear, Serkan Toto reports that SoftBank Mobile’s data plan is also being discounted from $62 to $45.60 per month for both new and existing subscribers, a move he attributes to weak iPhone sales in Japan.
[Reader Kidong Yun points out that even at the reduced data rates, Japanese customers still pay nearly $150 a month for iPhone service, roughly double what users pay in the United States.]
The promotion is scheduled to end in May. It follows a data plan price cut in August — less than a month after the iPhone's Japanese debut.
Toto, a marketing consultant based in Tokyo, had predicted that Apple might have trouble getting traction in Japan's highly competitive cell phone market. In June, he posted 10 reasons why Japan will hate the iPhone (or maybe not). To get a feel for how the iPhone is perceived in Japan, we re-post them below the fold:
1. No One-Seg digital TV tuner
2. No Felica (e-wallet) function
3. Weak camera
4. Only one panel color available
5. Display of cute emoticons, emoji, is difficult
6. Japanese cell phone contracts are long-term (2 years standard, almost no pre-paid) and expensive to terminate
6. A lot of Japanese already own an iPod Touch (launched in October 2007)
7. Japanese women with long fingernails will not buy it (and there are a lot of them)
8. High-school kids use cell phones mainly for emails using one thumb, a dialpad and a jog dial (ideal for Japanese character input)
9. Softbank will probably charge a lot of Yen for the handset itself, accessories, data plans etc.
10. Japan is the toughest cell phone market in the world
(high level of technical sophistication, critical customers, high innovation rate etc. ) (link)
I will admit now that I use and love my iPhone. Free calls between Softbank users before 9- my girlfriend being the one I call mostly being Softbank- has made Softbank the first time I have actually used my phone as more than a messaging device. All the apps and funcyionality may not be exactly new, but the implementation is so much more usable as to breath life into the world of smart-phones.
Yet the fly in the ointment is the inflated data fees here. Even this new data plan is ridiculously expensive, unless you just use the minimum (which is next to impossible, as it keeps connecting to 3G and charges by miniscule 'packets' that quickly add up). The solution I have found is to turn off data usage except when on a Wi-Fi network. Try this link to email yourself a file (made legitimately with Apple software), to do just that-
http://brent.kearneys.ca/2008/07/21/iphone-20-how-to-disable-cellular-internet-access/
Picked one up yesterday. It seems like theyre trying to make their money on phone service, and in fact you're obligated to take the "double white" plan, plus an "i option" that boosts your bill to $70 a month off the bat, pre calls. But the salesperson finally whispered to me that I could switch to basic service the day after activation. The next salesperson tried to keep adding stuff, but I beat them down to about $50 a month. I plan to use the iphone for data only. Meanwhile, I've cancelled my data plan on my regular cell. In the end it only works out to $7 more a month than I was paying anyway, and I got a free iphone for giving softbank my data business.
iPhone again is about ease of use not in technical achievement. Any Japanese cell phones are powerful enough than the flagship from Nokia N97.
I had used Japanese 3G phone back in 2004 with 2 mega pixel optical zoom by Sharp. It wasn't that impressive as the CPU was slow, bluetooth kept disconnecting, software was not flexible and not a standard operating system.
Japanese phones are powerful yet not as user friendly in terms of Interface and sometimes sluggish controls.
The iphone seems to be useful in japan only to foreigners and foreign-obsessed japanese. if you can read japanese and understand the marketing, you would know that the entire internet has been at your fingers for years in Japan. While the rest of the world marvels at the Iphone, we in Japan just say "been there, seen that" And about 5 years ago, at that.
The Iphone is the best smartphone currently in the market. It's not about features, it's about the interface and the operating system, the multitouch , the apstore, all combined. Others are trying to copy without any luck…, even today.
So …please buy the original, don't buy the copy, you won't regret it.
Yes, it's true that the iPhone's specs are far behind most of the Japanese handsets. When I was in Japan, I was shocked at the high resolution screens, high resolution cameras, and most of all, LARGE size.
The iPhone's strength isn't its technical specs, but rather the ease of use. There is a reason the iPhone comprises 51% of "smart phone" Internet traffic in the US — people actually can use the phone's advanced features.
Apple has the same mindset with their personal computers: Don't worry about bleeding-edge technology, just make it easy to use. This doesn't mean their computers aren't powerful — they are — but it means that both newbies and power users can use the system at their skill level.
@Jack: You got the display specs on BOTH cell phones wrong. Check your facts before posting.
I cancelled my iPhone contract after receiving three monthly bills of over $500. The contract was apparently for $60 a month. This is in Switzerland.
The thing was, the iPhone kept track of the data it had downloaded. That total number of MB was very different from the sums the carrier, Swisscom, claimed I had downloaded on the bill.
In short, if you have an iPhone in Switzerland you are considered super rich AND an idiot. And, thus, you are.
Apple do not want to know about the problems with their "exclusive" service providers. They just do not want to know anything about it at all.
So, after being treated this way, I have turned off my iPhone, thrown the bills from Swisscom in the bin unopened, and I am sticking a long needle right into the whipple on my stev-o voodoo doll.
Apple are just another phone company to me. Another rip off treat-the-customer-like-a-jerk corporation that is staffed by losers who never achieved anything except good marks from a university where they paid money for those good marks.
Sell your stock, because I do not think this trend is reversible.
I REALLY wanted a cell phone, but had to pass when Softbank was awarded exclusivity on the iPhone. I had a cell phone from them and cancelled my plan because of the absolute horrid service they offer. From poor coverage, terrible customer service, missed and dropped calls, and the ridiculously high prices they were advertising, I switched carriers and am now satisfied with the service.
If I still lived in the US I might consider an i-phone… but it definitely doesn't live up to the Hype. The above listed 10 reasons, and poor battery performance…. who needs it.
I may not have long fingernails, but one handed texting is the only option for an overcrowded train.
If the Japanese makers would just make an english smart-input app…. having to text in English is the only thing I hate to do on my lovely phone.
Not to gloat, but in The Netherlands the iPhone 3G has been free with a 2yr subscription for quite some time, and it's not a limited time offer.
Also, the basic plan costs Euro 30 per month ($38). That includes 300 voice minutes, 150 text messages, and truly unlimited HSDPA data at 7.2mbit per second.
'Just because everyone buys the iPhone doesn't mean it's the best phone to buy. It is actually a phone where Apple has chosen to increase revenue because they knew people would buy it eventhough it has 5 year old features.
Most other phones on the market (HTC Touch HD, Sony X1, etc) have:
-Dvd video recording
-Videophone functionality
-5-8 MP camera's with flash
-Removeable SD slots (upto 64gb) for fast transfer of movies / music or recorded video's
-Removeable and replaceable battery
-Bluetooth file transfer ability
-MMS
-7.2 mbit fast HSDPA internet (as opposed to iPhone's 3.2 mbit)
-640×480 res VGA screen as opposed to 388×240 on iPhone.
On the whole the iPhone is a very overhyped phone with 5 year old features. Then again why should apple have included any more features seeing as the buyers are perfectly happy with 5 year old features.
Well, not entirely true about the rate plans. I have the white plan, so I pay $9 for free calls in off peak hours and pay as you go for other calls. I max out the data, which is a sliding scale based on usage, with a $10 min charge and a max of $60. I also had the cost of the phone 16gb financed through the life of the contract. My highest payment with moderate calls and 2-3 hours of data a day has been about $100. In January I was out to sea, so I only paid $40. You'll only pay $150 a month if you purchase all the high end talking plans, not the basic services.
For a foreigner in Japan the iPhone is indispensable. The whole Internet at your fingertips, apps galore, music, etc without having to deal with the intricacies of Japanese phones. I used to own a great phone from AU KDDI, the Sanyo A5505SA which was cutting edge back in 2003. Now I can't live without my iPhone here in Tokyo.
Sent from my (Japanese) iPhone.
we have two iPhones at home…we already pay $150 for unlimited service and the other is $125. I would take this deal anytime if they are offering unlimited service for $150.
Actually, it's not for free. I guess, you may know about this. Anyway, even though, we can get the iPhone for free, we have to deal with a very very expensive phone bill. Plus, you can't change your contract for 2-years. I heard that if you choose this contract, you may have to pay nearly $150 per month.
ex ped: Thanks. Very helpful.
there are two number 6's in that list
ex ped: So there are. Go figure.