AAPL Rumors

Mobile providers in Japan have indicated a dramatic shift in the numbers of subscribers switching companies. The impact of the iPhone is also answering critics who insisted there would find only limited interest.

According to a report by Japanese tech business journal, Tech-On, SoftBank Mobile, Apple’s exclusive provider of the iPhone, led all other providers in new mobile phone subscriptions. Estimated at 215,400 of the 391,500 new activations during the month of July. 

KDDI noted that new cancelations related to customers’ transferring their numbers to another provider surpassed incoming transfers for the first time ever in July, crediting the iPhone with the unusual shift. “We accept the fact that our handsets need to be more attractive” a KDDI representative said.

Many analysts predicted that Apple’s phone would flop in Japan, a market where phone hardware and mobile networks have long offered greater sophistication than other markets. Other critics pointed out that the iPhone lacked a variety of culturally significant elements unique to the Japanese mobile market, including the ability to scan the QC barcodes that appear everywhere, and the inclusion of Sony’s RFID-based “FeliCA” swipe chip for purchases such at travel on the train system. Apple may go some way to address this, but to properly address the needs of the Japanese market may require a custom design. Many now believe that some of the required technologies for Japan will be integrated into the iPhone as standard, keeping with the one phone worldwide design, though the stored value card may only be solved by creating a custom version for Japan.