Apple snags top spot in Japan's mobile phone market for first time in 2012
According to new findings published on Tuesday, Apple rode strong demand of its new iPhone 5 to sell more handsets in Japan than any other manufacturer during the full 2012 calendar year, a first for the Cupertino, Calif., company.
Data from Counterpoint Research shows that by the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple's iPhone accounted for 16 percent of the entire Japanese mobile phone market, feature phones included, which helped the company take an annual share of 15 percent for the year. As noted by The Next Web, Counterpoint's study accounted for all handsets, both smartphones and feature phones.
The report found traditional top-sellers Sharp and Fujitsu behind Apple for the first time, with each taking a 14 percent share of the market. Sharp, which has been battling financial difficulties over the past quarters, had previously been Japan's number one cell phone manufacturer for six years running.
Contributing to Apple's success was heavy promotion of the iPhone 5 from carriers Softbank and KDDI in an attempt to set themselves apart from market-leading telecom DoCoMo, the firm said. The campaign yielded interesting results, as DoCoMo countered the iPhone with foreign smartphone offerings. By the end of the fourth quarter, Apple, Samsung and LG took up half of the market, while Chinese brands also saw booming sales.
Counterpoint's analysts had their own take on Japan's mobile market:
During Apple quarterly conference call for the first fiscal quarter of 2013, it was announced that the company sold some 47.8 million iPhones worldwide during the three months ending in December, a 29 percent increase from the same period in 2011.
Data from Counterpoint Research shows that by the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple's iPhone accounted for 16 percent of the entire Japanese mobile phone market, feature phones included, which helped the company take an annual share of 15 percent for the year. As noted by The Next Web, Counterpoint's study accounted for all handsets, both smartphones and feature phones.
The report found traditional top-sellers Sharp and Fujitsu behind Apple for the first time, with each taking a 14 percent share of the market. Sharp, which has been battling financial difficulties over the past quarters, had previously been Japan's number one cell phone manufacturer for six years running.
Contributing to Apple's success was heavy promotion of the iPhone 5 from carriers Softbank and KDDI in an attempt to set themselves apart from market-leading telecom DoCoMo, the firm said. The campaign yielded interesting results, as DoCoMo countered the iPhone with foreign smartphone offerings. By the end of the fourth quarter, Apple, Samsung and LG took up half of the market, while Chinese brands also saw booming sales.
Counterpoint's analysts had their own take on Japan's mobile market:
It was reported in December that DoCoMo blamed the iPhone for its biggest ever monthly loss of subscribers. Over the same period, Apple partner carriers Softbank and KDDI saw massive month-to-month gains.Japan was once considered to be like a Galapagos Island, an isolated terrain, in terms of mobile technology. It had its own unique digital cellular technology. It was far more advanced than any market in the world and it seemed nearly impossible for any foreign technology company to penetrate the market. Motorola had failed and Nokia had failed. The wave of smartphones has changed the situation now and it looks like the Japanese market is a market that can be transformed after all for better or worse.
During Apple quarterly conference call for the first fiscal quarter of 2013, it was announced that the company sold some 47.8 million iPhones worldwide during the three months ending in December, a 29 percent increase from the same period in 2011.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by jungmark
More failure for Apple. Notice Apple has yet to get 103% of the Japanese market. /s
Well, if you're talking about share of profits, Apple could, theoretically get..... aw, forget it.....
Apple needs to spend more money on advertising in other countries. In Australia for example Apple has let Samsung leapfrog them. Samsung spent a lot of money on advertising their s3 and note 2 to make people aware of them. Apple needs to make people realize that iphone 5 is not the same as iphone 4 and 4s.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xtacee1990
Apple needs to spend more money on advertising in other countries. In Australia for example Apple has let Samsung leapfrog them. Samsung spent a lot of money on advertising their s3 and note 2 to make people aware of them. Apple needs to make people realize that iphone 5 is not the same as iphone 4 and 4s.
No idea about Australia, but Apple (or it's distribution partner) is spending boatloads of money in advertising here in India. At least once a week they take out a full page ad on the front page of the largest newspaper here (The Times of India).
I subscribe to 2 newspapers, one of which is a dedicated financial paper. Today there was an iPhone ad on the front page (full) for the iPhone 5 and a full page ad on the second page for the 4S on The Times of India. The financial paper, Mint, had a full page ad on the front page for the iPad Mini.
Stocks of the iPhone 5 seem to have gotten better as well and they are available in good numbers now. They are finally making some visible changes to pushing their products now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aizmov
I hope DoCoMo loses more, they shouldn't have refused the iPhone.
DoCoMo and China Mobile too !
(Who said that?)
Hogwash! Somebody please give them a copy of the memo that says demand for Apple products is flagging.
The simile is just completely off base. Galapagos Island may be isolated. But it is interesting for scientific research on evolution, which is nothing related to how advanced Japan may be in mobile technology.
Having said that, it is nice to see Apple gaining there. What's the secret to their success? As seen in The Verges' article, Apple has already launched the large screen iPhone in Japan (http://cdn.thenextweb.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/02/[email protected]).
The math don't make sense.
"Data from Counterpoint Research shows that by the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple's iPhone accounted for 16 percent of the entire Japanese mobile phone market, feature phones included, which helped the company take an annual share of 15 percent for the year. As noted by The Next Web, Counterpoint's study accounted for all handsets, both smartphones and feature phones.
The report found traditional top-sellers Sharp and Fujitsu behind Apple for the first time, with each taking a 14 percent share of the market. Sharp, which has been battling financial difficulties over the past quarters, had previously been Japan's number one cell phone manufacturer for six years running.
Contributing to Apple's success was heavy promotion of the iPhone 5 from carriersSoftbank and KDDI in an attempt to set themselves apart from market-leading telecom DoCoMo, the firm said. The campaign yielded interesting results, as DoCoMo countered the iPhone with foreign smartphone offerings. By the end of the fourth quarter, Apple, Samsung and LG took up half of the market, while Chinese brands also saw booming sales."
Sharp 14% + Fujitsu 14% + Apple 16% = 44%
50% = Apple 16% + 34% (Samsung + LG. 34% divided by 2 is 17% And this number is just averaging the 2.)
Which leaves the rest at 22%.
SO:
Apple 16%
Sharp 14%
Fujitsu 14%
LG 17%
Samsung 17%
China combined 22%
TOTAL 100%
So how did Apple became top spot at 16% when LG or Samsung is 17% or better?
Originally Posted by bleh1234
The math don't make sense.
More more information, please contact [email protected]
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/02/13/report-apple-tops-japans-mobile-industry-for-the-first-time-with-15-market-share-in-2012/
You HAVE to see the pic that accompanies the article. Priceless!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
More more information, please contact [email protected]
Huh. . .
I see his point. From CounterpointResearch:
"Counterpoint Research releases new data of the Handset / Smartphone market. In the recent Country Market Share Report for Q4 2012, we find that Apple’s iPhone shipments take over the Japanese market.
- Apple took 16% market share in the fourth quarter of 2012 and 15% for the full year of 2012 reaching the No.1 spot for the first time in annual terms. It has been No.1 since November of last year.
- Other foreign brands such as Samsung and LG also increased share in Q4 and the combined share exceeded 50% for the first time in Japan’s history. Japan is no longer a Galapagos Island as global brands start to dominate."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
Huh. . .
I see his point. From CounterpointResearch:
"Counterpoint Research releases new data of the Handset / Smartphone market. In the recent Country Market Share Report for Q4 2012, we find that Apple’s iPhone shipments take over the Japanese market.
- Apple took 16% market share in the fourth quarter of 2012 and 15% for the full year of 2012 reaching the No.1 spot for the first time in annual terms. It has been No.1 since November of last year.
- Other foreign brands such as Samsung and LG also increased share in Q4 and the combined share exceeded 50% for the first time in Japan’s history. Japan is no longer a Galapagos Island as global brands start to dominate."
Explanation could be that "Other foreign brands" include more companies than just Samsung and LG (Apple, China, etc.).
As the article said, it's the promotions that are causing the uptick in sales.
Their websites seem to indicate offers of a free iPhone 5 with two year contract for new customers. Maybe some plan rebates, too. Pretty good deals.
(Originally, the iPhone didn't sell very well in Japan. It wasn't until around 2009+ when carriers offered it for free ... or almost free.. with contract that it started to take off.)
Yup, it just leveled the playing field with other vendors.