Comments on: Smartphones overtake netbooks in Japan http://whatjapanthinks.com/2010/07/15/smartphones-overtake-netbooks-in-japan/ From kimono to keitai; research Japanese facts and figures through translated opinion polls and surveys. Thu, 10 Apr 2014 22:29:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.2 By: DerekNobuyuki Wallace http://whatjapanthinks.com/2010/07/15/smartphones-overtake-netbooks-in-japan/comment-page-1/#comment-230947 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:10:36 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/?p=2917#comment-230947 I’m pretty sure a lot of the increases in Smartphone usage is due to the Sony Ericsson Xperia (X10) from April onwards.
As we all know, DoCoMo has the biggest subscriber base and Xperia is DoCoMo’s new flagship smartphone is actually getting much needed marketing attention.

Only the iPhone and Xperia really got much marketing attention in Japan, in terms of smartphones
but, personally, I think many DoCoMo users were unwilling to switch to switch carriers to Softbank, reportedly the worst carrier in terms of network strength/capacity/coverage.

Sure, I lot of users did switch to Softbank just to get the iPhone, but heavily marketed smartphones on other networks now mean that users can stick with their existing carriers, not break their family discount packages, and get a trendy new smartphone.

Xperia was the first major one not on Softbank, but is being followed up by many other products on all three major carriers that could possibly appeal to more than an enterprise or gadget-centric users.

You used to be able to see lots of iPhones everywhere, now you see iPhones and Xperia everywhere here. I look forward to a near-future where we can see a wide variety of “smartphones” and similar devices enjoyed on all carriers and across market segments.

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