Will DoCoMo offer LG Prada instead of Apple iPhone?

Wall Street Journal reported that DoCoMo would bring LG Prada to Japan on May 23. The news raises a question of a fate of iPhone on DoCoMo’s network. It’s no secret that Prada is a direct competitor with the iPhone. Why would DoCoMo bring Prada if it was going to introduce iPhone? In a simple logic, you don’t want to cannibalize your iPhone sales by bringing a competing product. AT&T serves as a good example here. I have two theories to explain this move by DoCoMo. First of all, the negotiations between Apple and DoCoMo didn’t bring a fruit and DoCoMo decided to launch a competing product ahead of the iPhone’s launch on a rival’s network – Softbank’s, to be precise. Second, DoCoMo decided it takes too long for Apple to come up with 3G iPhone for Japanese market. There is still a possibility that iPhone will be shipped by DoCoMo as the Prada’s move can be seen by someone as pressure on Apple to become more flexible in its terms. We’ll see very soon.

Related iPhone articles:

• Apple’s iPhone to hit Japan market in 2008?
• iPhone balancing act: DoCoMo or SoftBank?
• Japanese users think iPhone is fat

Source: WSJ

iPhone balancing act: DoCoMo or SoftBank?

Apple is reported to conduct talks with Japan's two UMTS carriers on a subject of who will launch iPhone in Japan. KDDI au the second biggest carrier is missing from the talks due to its CDMA network standard, which is not supported by iPhone. Japan is poised to become a first country to enjoy 3G version of iPhone. However, it is not clear who will get the "right of first night" with iPhone. DoCoMo variant is more attractive for Apple as the carrier controls more than 50% of market in Japan. However, DoCoMo is notoriously known for its tight control of the handset ecosystem in Japan and is not willing to cede it to anybody else. Maybe, that is the reason why Apple is bringing SoftBank to the negotiation table - to make DoCoMo play by Apple's rules over the fear that the iPhone deal may be snatched by SoftBank. It looks like Apple needs to stand firm with its conditions of revenue sharing with operators. If it shows weakness now, operators in other countries will demand the same deal. The possible solution is a compromise between Apple and DoCoMo - Apple still get the revenue-sharing but with a smaller margin than it got in the US or Europe (and other operators won't necessarily know about the terms of the deal). Below are some headlines from today's news sources discussing the matter:

• Apple Mulls Options for iPhone Japan
• Apple plays DoCoMo against Softbank over iPhone
• Apple in Talks with DoCoMo in Japan
• Apple Meets With DoCoMo, Softbank On Launching iPhone in Japan

Survey: Nearly half of iPod users intend to switch to iPhone in Japan

According to the recent survey conducted by Mitsubishi Research Institute, iPhone as a product has a high level of awareness among Japanese consumers, with 11.3% of survey respondents (out of total 2,400) understanding iPhone’s features and functions and 35.6% having heard about iPhone name. Moreover, when asked about iPhone purchase intension as a replacement for the existing phone, 5.2% of respondents expressed a strong intension to do so, followed with 22.4% of respondent also considering this move. Male users in age segment from ten to forties and female users in age segment from ten to thirties are the ones with most positive attitude toward buying iPhone, with males in their twenties especially tending to become the first adopters of iPhone in Japan. Among iPod users the intension to buy iPhone was even higher – 13.3% strongly inclined to acquire iPhone and 31.4% more likely to do so.

Source: Mitsubishi Research Institute

Apple launches wireless Internet store in Japan

Apple has opened a version of its online store for wireless Internet users in Japan.

The service is available to owners of most handsets sold by NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp.'s Au unit, which together account for about 82 percent of all wireless Internet subscribers in Japan. The version for Au's EZWeb service launched on March 28 and the NTT DoCoMo I-mode site went live on April 1, Apple said.