Can Apple Break Into Asia W/Japan?
12.19.07 - 12:24pm
Apple is looking to cross the continents and traverse into Asian waters seeking deals in China, South Korea and now in Japan.
Japans market, like China’s and South Korea’s is proving to be a hard one for Apple to cinch a deal with the incredible revenue sharing of iPhone subscriptions that Apple wants. The fact that South Korean talks have been ongoing since August and no deal has been made yet in China, where Apple has been under negotiations since November, can’t help matters. In Japan, however Apple is using free commerce to its advantage and pitting two rival Japanese companies against each other in an effort to get the deal Apple wants.
NTT DoCoMo would be the obvious choice for Apple as they control the market with half the overall share. They are known for being the first to market the hottest high end phones. Softband is the other mobile network Apple is in talks with. Softband is known for being behind on their phones and technology. Getting the iPhone would be a huge push for them. Most likely though, Apple is just trying to use them to force NTT DoCoMO into a deal.
Whether or not the iPhone will have the same impact in Japan as the U.S. remains to be seen. Japan is far ahead of the U.S. in phone technology having had phones with video and music for years. They have the super fast 3G network and would most likely be getting a 3G iPhone. Still their power over mobile phones and the advanced technology they have, give Steve Jobs and Apple less power in their talks. As good as the iPhone is, will it compare enough to be worth a revenue sharing model for the Japanese mobile carriers.
What is known for sure is the Asian market is crucial to Apple meeting its goal of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008. A deal with a mobile distributor in Japan could help propel the iPhone forward into the other Asian markets. A non-deal would be equally disruptive for Apple who may have to go with less or no revenue sharing at all in order to get the iPhone across the seas and into Asia.
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