Japan Votes “No” On iPhone 3G.
A recent survey makes for scary reading (for Apple), as it reports that 91% of Japanese mobile phone owners are not planning to purchase an iPhone. Despite being a consensus of just over 400 people, it is the kind of feedback that Japanese service provider SoftBank has been dreading, despite valiantly taking the western developed device into the heart of advanced technology, giant robots and comics about tentacles.
The research conducted by iShare shows that in response to the question about usage after purchase, 6.2% replied “as my primary handset,” whilst a slamdunking 91% replied with “not planning to buy one now”. The survey was conducted over the internet prior to Apple’s big announcement, so the new info of a sexy price point and 3G might have warmed people in the Far East to the phone slightly more.
Apple are attempting to cater the handset to the far-eastern markets by the release of the iPhone 3G, with localised language support and…stuff. However, the biggest problem is attempting to sell technology to a demographic where the demands are so different. Touchscreen, as good as it is, pales in comparison to being able to buy things out of vending machines, read novels or watch hi-def TV. The Japanese do not suffer hardware shortcomings gladly, just ask Microsoft about their attempt with the XBox 360.
Reason for the overwhelming negative response? Batteries. The respondents who replied “I prefer replaceable batteries” accounted for 77.1%, whilst only 29% didn’t care. Meaning almost 90% are big on swapping batteries. And it’s common knowledge that you can’t change the batteries in the iPhone without a trip to your friendly neighbourhood Apple Store or shipping it off into the ether, making people wary of all that downtime without connectivity. It’s either that or because the iPhone doesn’t have one of those loops for putting loads of awesome little trinkets on.
It’s probably the trinket thing.
Source: Just Another Mobile Phone Blog
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