Japan doesn't give a sh_t

successsuccess
Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Told ya. Japan doesn't give a shit about the iPhone. Yeah, Yeah it's neat and fun but they really don't care. Plus it's expensive.



I was at the debut today. As I was mentioning before there is basically no promo for the iPhone in Japan. Next to nothing. The best part was the cute SoftBank girl handing out flyers. Photos taken with my Casio mobile which I'll be keeping instead of getting an iPhone. I might buy an iPod Touch though.















Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    bergermeisterbergermeister Posts: 6,784member
    Got my phone today! The shop had 10 units, they sold out instantly. More people came in while we were hanging around talking, but left due to no stock.



    There was a long spot on the news last night at just before midnight (so all the business types could see it). They had a demo device and were showing lots off.



    Rakuten was shown saying the iPhone opens an entirely new field for business.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    successsuccess Posts: 1,040member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bergermeister View Post


    Got my phone today! The shop had 10 units, they sold out instantly. More people came in while we were hanging around talking, but left due to no stock.



    There was a long spot on the news last night at just before midnight (so all the business types could see it). They had a demo device and were showing lots off.



    Rakuten was shown saying the iPhone opens an entirely new field for business.



    Hey good to see ya fellow gaijin in Japan. Same over here on this coast. A whopping 10 units or less. Woohoo! Only people buying are people who want the status or foreigners who would've bought it in their home country such as yourself. What plan did you get? What was the total you paid and how many years did you choose?
  • Reply 3 of 15
    bergermeisterbergermeister Posts: 6,784member
    The shop I went to is not one of the larger Softbank shops in town, so they had a fair number in town today, if you figure 10 per shop for about 20 shops... for each major city in the country (around 60)... on opening day, and this was just in Japan; Apple is releasing worldwide today. I was the only foreigner in the shop; four businessmen and a few others.



    The local news crew was on hand and interviewed the first guy in line and then worked on a pretty good presentation of the iPhone.



    There is plenty of attention being paid to the iPhone; much more than any recent phone that I have seen.
  • Reply 4 of 15
    successsuccess Posts: 1,040member
    Well I think that's just in store because it's an event. There's bound to be someone there because it's a phone from Apple.



    If you've ever seen the Hillary Duff Walt Disney TV ads for the Disney phone then you'll know what I mean about promo. The iPhone has had nothing like that here.



    The phone could be a success for the business people because it's a PDA but I don't think that's going to be too many people in the grand scheme of things.



    Hey, how's the text input? I know it can't be as fast as real solid buttons because I can use two fingers at same time with a regular phone. That also means it can't be as responsive either. Is it still ok?
  • Reply 5 of 15
    bergermeisterbergermeister Posts: 6,784member
    Our dinner guest tonight said the iPhone was on the morning news/talk shows, full demos and everything, just as Apple did with the MBA (though that was the very day it was released).



    They have placed info around. Waiting for an ad to come; the one Steve showed won't work here because the 1st gen wasn't available here. Hopefully they will make something fantastic.



    I wonder what Apple's target is for Japan?
  • Reply 6 of 15
    successsuccess Posts: 1,040member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bergermeister View Post


    I wonder what Apple's target is for Japan?



    Ionno. Would be interesting. But hey, did you see my post? What did you pay for everything and what is your plan? How was setup? You using .mac/mobileme mail? Most importantly, how fast is the kanji input compared with two finger input on a reg mobile?



    Thanks
  • Reply 7 of 15
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by success View Post


    Told ya. Japan doesn't give a shit about the iPhone. Yeah, Yeah it's neat and fun but they really don't care. Plus it's expensive.



    I was at the debut today. As I was mentioning before there is basically no promo for the iPhone in Japan. Next to nothing. The best part was the cute SoftBank girl handing out flyers. Photos taken with my Casio mobile which I'll be keeping instead of getting an iPhone. I might buy an iPod Touch though.







    Does she come with the iPhone? LOL such a chauvinistic post of mine. Please forgive moi. I spent 28 hours waiting for the iPhone and I failed to get one.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    successsuccess Posts: 1,040member
    oh she comes alright....just not with an iPhone
  • Reply 9 of 15
    yamayama Posts: 427member
    Hmm, looks like there were some pretty long queues at the Softbank flagship store:



    http://www.dannychoo.com/adp/eng/1522/iPhone+Japan.html



    Great pictures.











  • Reply 10 of 15
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by yama View Post


    Hmm, looks like there were some pretty long queues at the Softbank flagship store:





    That's classic. White iPhone for the stormtrooper!
  • Reply 11 of 15
    bergermeisterbergermeister Posts: 6,784member
    I don't know if this was true in other countries, but I notice that at my shop, the staff were somewhat under prepared for the iPhone release, not because of their own efforts to do a good job, but more due to Apple's insistence on secrecy which led them to not send demo devices or preparatory materials to shops before the worldwide release.



    If Apple can spend money and time developing the preview movies with the dull announcer with the hand gestures and the international copies of him, why can't they spend time and money to prepare a decent training program which would allow the workers at the telephone shops to actually learn how to process the iPhone sale. The girls at our shop work part time and only go to the office several times a week. They were trying their best, but they simply did not have all the information available to them that they could have. as a teacher and a personnel trainer, I was very surprised to see the girls resort to e-mailing another office and directly reading the return e-mails to the customers, even showing them the messages on their cell phones. Apple and or Softbank could have prepared a simple 15 or 20 minute video presentation that the staff could have viewed before opening the doors on Friday. It would have made things much smoother.



    I understand the scope of a worldwide launch of not only a new phone but also new software and a new store. However, there are several signals suggesting that a little more preparation would have made the entire transition a little easier.



    (I finally have my MacSpeech dictate program up and running, so my messages are getting longer and longer! This entire message was typed using MacSpeech and there was only one mistake, which is much better than my typing, not to mention several times faster!)
  • Reply 12 of 15
    bergermeisterbergermeister Posts: 6,784member
    From the Japan Times:



    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0080712a1.html



    Not bad...
  • Reply 13 of 15
    successsuccess Posts: 1,040member
    That article means nothing really. Simple PR. Hundreds or thousands didn't buy the phone of course as you know. In fact, they "declined to say how many were sold" which means not many. Probably no more than 20.



    "The Tokyo launch is the latest in a 22-nation campaign for the 3G," Thas why all the reporters and fans. Global debut. Nothing else, nothing more. Advertise Hello Kitty and you'll get a line up too.



    Also Omotesando is where the biggest money in Japan is and it's a newer trendy area [that's why they chose it], so it's not strange for them to be sold out. You could sell out ANYTHING in Omotesando.



    I'm just saying it's the launch so no big surprise of a line up. What I'm talking about is total sales after a few months. Will be hardly worth talking about.



    I LOVE Omentesando Hills btw. Very cool. My friend has a Yoga studio there.



    I'd still like to know what plan you're on, how much you paid and how the kanji input is.



    Cheers
  • Reply 14 of 15
    bergermeisterbergermeister Posts: 6,784member
    The data is coming in and it looks rather good for the iPhone in Japan.



    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=89972



    Good for Apple. However, there is a lag in inputting Japanese; waiting for the wife to update her phone to see if it makes a difference. Personally I don't send many messages form my phone so I would never really notice.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    cubitcubit Posts: 846member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bergermeister View Post


    The data is coming in and it looks rather good for the iPhone in Japan.



    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=89972



    Good for Apple. However, there is a lag in inputting Japanese; waiting for the wife to update her phone to see if it makes a difference. Personally I don't send many messages form my phone so I would never really notice.



    That is definitely true; the CPU seems taxed by the conversion process, but there is plenty of room to smooth the software out on that one. I am very impressed with the initial success of the phone in Japan, though it better add video camera capability soon if it is really to take off here. I am extremely pleased with the display, though.



    The Japanese just are not all that impressed with the phone part, since they have far more flashy goodies built in, like paying bills directly by waving a phone at a machine. But there are plenty of things in the softawre package to keep anyone happy, and Apple seems committed to not letting Canon or SoftBank or anyone else direct their Jpan operations any longer.



    Keep posting folks; I'd like to see what others in Japan think of the service. I'll be in Kyoto again in the fall for a year and I'll need all the info I can get on Central Japan service.
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