THE BRIDGE

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How one mobile content company is capitalizing on Japan’s Kawaii culture

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  Mobile content company Furyu may be a one of those rare companies that is better known among younger girls than by business people or industry insiders. Because aside from its mobile content and media business, the company also develops ‘purikura’ machines, or photo booths. Japanese women of all generations have experienced the fun of these photo booths at one time or another. Recently such booths in Japan are a one-stop solution for cuteness. There are photoshop-like features that enhance your skin, enlarge your eyes, and more. The photos can be decorated using stamps and frames, and the newer machines comes with photo collage features as well. Furyu leverages its mobile content business in these photo booths, providing cute character stamps and decorations. One example is its CameLion character which is available at specific photo booths called ‘Girl’s Photographer‘. The CameLion character is learning to be a professional photographer, and works sort of like a guide for those using the photo booth machine. Furyu just released a puzzle game app called ‘CameLion’s Game and Book’ on both iOS and Android. Furyu was founded back in year 2007 and has operated a famous mobile emoji portal called Muteki Deco Ranking (‘Muteki’…

 Furyu-CameLion

Mobile content company Furyu may be a one of those rare companies that is better known among younger girls than by business people or industry insiders. Because aside from its mobile content and media business, the company also develops ‘purikura’ machines, or photo booths. Japanese women of all generations have experienced the fun of these photo booths at one time or another.

Recently such booths in Japan are a one-stop solution for cuteness. There are photoshop-like features that enhance your skin, enlarge your eyes, and more. The photos can be decorated using stamps and frames, and the newer machines comes with photo collage features as well. Furyu leverages its mobile content business in these photo booths, providing cute character stamps and decorations.

CameLion-appOne example is its CameLion character which is available at specific photo booths called ‘Girl’s Photographer‘. The CameLion character is learning to be a professional photographer, and works sort of like a guide for those using the photo booth machine. Furyu just released a puzzle game app called ‘CameLion’s Game and Book’ on both iOS and Android.

Furyu was founded back in year 2007 and has operated a famous mobile emoji portal called Muteki Deco Ranking (‘Muteki’ means ‘invincible’). Due to the widespread shift from featured phones to smartphones in Japan, the company has optimized its portal for Android. There are over 60,000 decorative stamps that can be used when texting. Muteki Deco Ranking is available for a monthly fee of 294 yen (or about $3).

When it comes to the mobile culture in Japan, micro-payments are here to stay. It’s important to remember that it’s not only mobile gamers opening their wallets. Young girls do not hesitate to pay 300 yen every month as long as their appetite for ‘kawaii’ is fulfilled.

Japanese mobile video service NotTV hits a million paid subscribers

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Back in April we mentioned that Japanese mobile video site NotTV had reached the 700,000 subscriber milestone, although at the time it had fallen short of its first year goal of a million. But now Mmbi, the company offering the service, has announced that this target has finally been reached as of June 1st, with subscribers still growing at a decent pace (see chart below). Even though NotTV is late hitting its target, the company still plans to celebrate the milestone with a quiz show this July where it plans to give away 4 million yen to participants and winners. The service originally started back in April of 2012, but in its first few months there weren’t as many NotTV compatible handsets available. The service is backed by Docomo, with many of its handsets offering NotTV. There are now 26 phone models offering the service, and that’s expected to rise to 33 by the end of July, according to Nikkei. The service is available in 33 prefectures, but they hope to offer it nationwide by March of next year. Mmbi has previously stated that its long term goal is to accumulate 10 million mobile video subscribers. It still has a…

akb48-nottv
Photo: RBB Today

Back in April we mentioned that Japanese mobile video site NotTV had reached the 700,000 subscriber milestone, although at the time it had fallen short of its first year goal of a million. But now Mmbi, the company offering the service, has announced that this target has finally been reached as of June 1st, with subscribers still growing at a decent pace (see chart below).

Even though NotTV is late hitting its target, the company still plans to celebrate the milestone with a quiz show this July where it plans to give away 4 million yen to participants and winners.

The service originally started back in April of 2012, but in its first few months there weren’t as many NotTV compatible handsets available. The service is backed by Docomo, with many of its handsets offering NotTV. There are now 26 phone models offering the service, and that’s expected to rise to 33 by the end of July, according to Nikkei. The service is available in 33 prefectures, but they hope to offer it nationwide by March of next year.

Mmbi has previously stated that its long term goal is to accumulate 10 million mobile video subscribers. It still has a very long way to go.

not-tv-growth

Docomo partners with Line, finds a creative way to relieve network strain

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Back in January of 2012, Japanese carrier NTT Docomo (TYO:9437) attributed a network disruption to free VoIP applications, with popular chat app Line being the first one that it cited. Line, which launched back in mid-2011, was just picking up steam at the time with about 15 million downloads reported at that point, and 5.5 million of those in Japan. Since then of course, the application’s download count is about ten times as high – in Japan, where it has more than 45 million; and abroad, where there are over than 150 million. And while Docomo has itself had time to solidify its network infrastructure to accommodate the kind of data load that apps like Line demand, it can’t be an easy task. So it was interesting to see today that Docomo has decided to partner with Line Corporation, as announced in an event earlier today. There are a few aspects to the companies’ partnership, but the most interesting collaboration will be an original Line application for Android that will include a call button in app that users can use to make voice calls. The goal here, as Docomo itself notes, is to reduce the load on their network. This…

Docomo Line
Docomo CEO Kaoru Kato, photo by Keizai.biz

Back in January of 2012, Japanese carrier NTT Docomo (TYO:9437) attributed a network disruption to free VoIP applications, with popular chat app Line being the first one that it cited. Line, which launched back in mid-2011, was just picking up steam at the time with about 15 million downloads reported at that point, and 5.5 million of those in Japan.

Since then of course, the application’s download count is about ten times as high – in Japan, where it has more than 45 million; and abroad, where there are over than 150 million. And while Docomo has itself had time to solidify its network infrastructure to accommodate the kind of data load that apps like Line demand, it can’t be an easy task. So it was interesting to see today that Docomo has decided to partner with Line Corporation, as announced in an event earlier today.

There are a few aspects to the companies’ partnership, but the most interesting collaboration will be an original Line application for Android that will include a call button in app that users can use to make voice calls. The goal here, as Docomo itself notes, is to reduce the load on their network. This will be put in place in September, and will allow users to call other Docomo users for free. Ostensibly, the regular Line voice call button (for VoIP calls) will still be in place.

This is a pretty fascinating maneuver on Docomo’s part, as telcos the world over adjust to a mobile industry shifting from voice to data [1].

The other aspect of the Docomo-Line agreement will bring another original Line application to Docomo’s Raku-Raku smartphones, which target users who aren’t accustomed to smartphones, especially the country’s large senior population. This app will implement preventative measures to limit transactions amounts that may have resulted from accidental purchases.

A million reading manga on mobile

In addition to striking this partnership with Japan’s largest carrier, this marks a pretty good day for Line. The company also announced that its new manga application has reached a million downloads, this just a little over a month after the service initially launched in Japan.

As for Docomo, the telco isn’t doing too shabby either with more than 12 million LTE subscribers as of April 20th. Oh, and the company announced some new phones today too. But of course, still no iPhone.

(Download chart as image)

For more information on the growth of Line, please check out our interactive Line Timeline which chronicles its growth from its launch back in 2011 up until the present day.


  1. As one example, check out this ZDnet piece from yesterday saying that such messaging apps would cost Indian telcos more than a billion dollars this year. Of course that’s a far different mobile landscape than Japan, but it will be interesting to see if any other telecoms try what Docomo is doing. (Perhaps some already have? Let us know in the comments if you know of any)  ↩

NTT Docomo to acquire Japan’s largest medical database

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Japanese mobile giant NTT Docomo and medical information provider Nihon Ultmarc have jointly announced that the telco would acquire a 77.5% stake of the medical company for 2.6 billion yen (approximately $26 million) in May. Nihon Ultmarc was founded in 1962, and has built a database of medical doctors and nurses across the country, providing that information to the pharmaceutical industry. NTT Docomo announced in their business plan for this fiscal year that it expects to grow its medical and health care related business up to 40 billion yen ($400 million) by 2015, which is almost ten times than what it was in 2011. The telco aims to create three new markets by deploying mobile technologies: in health management and prevention support, in health insurance and welfare related services, and medical examination and treatment support. NTT Docomo had been operating a video service, MD+, for sharing surgical procedures and treatments among doctors. Along with the subsidization, Nihon Ulmarc has integrated with MD+ with the company’s knowledge sharing system for members/doctors, giving them an accumulation of useful intelligence that can go towards better medical services.

docomo_ultmarcJapanese mobile giant NTT Docomo and medical information provider Nihon Ultmarc have jointly announced that the telco would acquire a 77.5% stake of the medical company for 2.6 billion yen (approximately $26 million) in May.

Nihon Ultmarc was founded in 1962, and has built a database of medical doctors and nurses across the country, providing that information to the pharmaceutical industry. NTT Docomo announced in their business plan for this fiscal year that it expects to grow its medical and health care related business up to 40 billion yen ($400 million) by 2015, which is almost ten times than what it was in 2011. The telco aims to create three new markets by deploying mobile technologies: in health management and prevention support, in health insurance and welfare related services, and medical examination and treatment support.

NTT Docomo had been operating a video service, MD+, for sharing surgical procedures and treatments among doctors. Along with the subsidization, Nihon Ulmarc has integrated with MD+ with the company’s knowledge sharing system for members/doctors, giving them an accumulation of useful intelligence that can go towards better medical services.

md-medy

Naoki Shibata on cutting-edge app SEO techniques

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This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013. On day two at B Dash Camp 2013 in Fukuoka, we had a chance to briefly hear Naoki Shibata, the co-founder of app store SEO tool SearchMan. Naoki explained that users typically don’t search for an app by looking for a particular name or a brand, but rather instead they will search for it by function. So to this end, it is very helpful if your app’s name includes a significant keyword included. But you do need to be careful not to make it too long because users will just see an excerpt sometimes. He also noted that for the App Store, you app has a limit of 100 characters, so it’s important that you maximize the space given to you. Similarly, in the app description, you need to be careful with this as well, because it shows up just underneath the app’s screenshots – so this is key real estate. In terms of App Store and Google Play ranking criteria, he noted that both stores look for relations, factoring in keywords, users reviews, the app description, as well as the app score (which includes reviews and…

IMG_8559

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013.

On day two at B Dash Camp 2013 in Fukuoka, we had a chance to briefly hear Naoki Shibata, the co-founder of app store SEO tool SearchMan.

Naoki explained that users typically don’t search for an app by looking for a particular name or a brand, but rather instead they will search for it by function. So to this end, it is very helpful if your app’s name includes a significant keyword included. But you do need to be careful not to make it too long because users will just see an excerpt sometimes.

He also noted that for the App Store, you app has a limit of 100 characters, so it’s important that you maximize the space given to you. Similarly, in the app description, you need to be careful with this as well, because it shows up just underneath the app’s screenshots – so this is key real estate.

In terms of App Store and Google Play ranking criteria, he noted that both stores look for relations, factoring in keywords, users reviews, the app description, as well as the app score (which includes reviews and sales).

Naoki also gave a brief video demo of his SearchMan service which aspires to help customers take care of all these issues.

4 ramen related mobile apps helping to feed Japan

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Nisshin’s Cup Noodle product is eaten in 80 countries around the world, with more than 31 billion cups having been sold in its near 50 year history, of which Japanese people ate 20 billion. Interestingly, the product is also associated with many early stage startups. There are even expressions like ‘Ramen Profitable‘ by Paul Graham. There are about 34,000 ramen restaurants in Japan according to Tsurumi Ramen, and interestingly that industry has spawned more than a few ramen-related apps, as well as fun products. Here are just a few of them: The Ramen Now With over 300,000 downloads, this app allows users to find ramen restaurants nearby by using geolocation. It also provides coupons for some restaurants giving users a reason to try out different ramen. It has Twitter integration, letting people share ramen they like with friends. The app is currently available for both iOS and Android. Cho Ramen Map Cho can be roughly translated as ‘extreme.’ And this app is extremely detailed in that it even has information like the thickness of ramen noodles at different restaurants. Of course there is also more general information about restaurants’ hours too. It’s available on Google Play. Mitsukete Ramen Mitsukete means…

CupNoodles-Matryoshka

Nisshin’s Cup Noodle product is eaten in 80 countries around the world, with more than 31 billion cups having been sold in its near 50 year history, of which Japanese people ate 20 billion. Interestingly, the product is also associated with many early stage startups. There are even expressions like ‘Ramen Profitable‘ by Paul Graham. There are about 34,000 ramen restaurants in Japan according to Tsurumi Ramen, and interestingly that industry has spawned more than a few ramen-related apps, as well as fun products. Here are just a few of them:

The Ramen Now

Ramen-NowWith over 300,000 downloads, this app allows users to find ramen restaurants nearby by using geolocation. It also provides coupons for some restaurants giving users a reason to try out different ramen. It has Twitter integration, letting people share ramen they like with friends. The app is currently available for both iOS and Android.

Cho Ramen Map

Cho-Ramen-MapCho can be roughly translated as ‘extreme.’ And this app is extremely detailed in that it even has information like the thickness of ramen noodles at different restaurants. Of course there is also more general information about restaurants’ hours too. It’s available on Google Play.

Mitsukete Ramen

Mitsukete-ramenMitsukete means ‘to find’ in Japanese. It is yet another ramen restaurant map application provided by Gurunavi, one of the major Yelp-like sites in Japan. Users are rewarded with stamps for ramen they have ‘conquered’ and can make a log of their ramen experience. The app is currently available on Google Play.

Minna no Ramen Timer

ramen-timerThe name of this app translates into ‘Everyone’s Ramen Timer’, and as you may have guessed by now, it is a cooking timer dedicated exclusively to ramen. It’s for people who opt to go with cup noodles at home, rather than eating out. By reading the barcode on different cup noodles, it automatically sets its timer for that particular type. Just tap the start button and it will tell you when your noodles are most delish! You can also find your favorite cup noodles from favorites and history. It’s available over on Google Play.

More please!

Takumen


Takumen-logoNow, if these apps aren’t enough to fulfill your ramen appetite, you can order popular ramen from restaurants online which you can then cook at home. The ecommerce startup launched back in July of 2010, and it’s called Takumen. In a year and a half after its launch, the site has sold over 100,000 items to noodle lovers all over Japan. We’ve heard that they have global expansion in mind, and if that happens, we will be sure to let you know!

Cup Noodle Inception?

We recently came across some cute Cup Noodle merchandise designed by Japanese design studio Nendo, which was produced for the Nisshin Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama. The Cup noodle Matryoshka (pictured above) takes the brand’s iconic packaging and makes it into a matryoshka-like container, with a cup in a cup in a cup (in a dream?).

Cup noodle forms (below) is another interesting product, making a slight change in the form and shape of the cup to transform it into something entirely different.

CupNoodleForms

 

Japan’s mobile video service NotTV hit 700,000 subscribers. But can it go much further?

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Mmbi Inc. recently announced that its mobile television service, NotTV, reached the 700,000 subscriber mark on April 8th. The mobile channel, which costs users 480 yen (just under $5) per month to use, grew steadily in 2012, but according to figures over on S-Max (which I’ve charted below) it seems as though the pace of subscriber acquisition tailed off a bit in the new year. This is unusual given that NotTV launched a promotional New Year’s campaign back on January 6th. Add to that the fact that it doesn’t appear to have received a boost from Docomo’s spring lineup of handsets, and I think this could be cause for concern for Mmbi [1]. The company’s previously stated goal for its first year was 1 million subscribers (it launched on April 1, 2012), and it has fallen well short of that milestone. Mmbi previously stated that it has the long term goal of reaching 10 million subscribers. While I’m sure NotTV will hit that first goal of a million subs in a few months, it will likely require some creative thinking to reach the second goal of 10 million. (View image version of this chart) Docomo smartphones are compatible with the…

nottv_logo_large_finol

Mmbi Inc. recently announced that its mobile television service, NotTV, reached the 700,000 subscriber mark on April 8th.

The mobile channel, which costs users 480 yen (just under $5) per month to use, grew steadily in 2012, but according to figures over on S-Max (which I’ve charted below) it seems as though the pace of subscriber acquisition tailed off a bit in the new year.

This is unusual given that NotTV launched a promotional New Year’s campaign back on January 6th. Add to that the fact that it doesn’t appear to have received a boost from Docomo’s spring lineup of handsets, and I think this could be cause for concern for Mmbi [1].

The company’s previously stated goal for its first year was 1 million subscribers (it launched on April 1, 2012), and it has fallen well short of that milestone. Mmbi previously stated that it has the long term goal of reaching 10 million subscribers.

While I’m sure NotTV will hit that first goal of a million subs in a few months, it will likely require some creative thinking to reach the second goal of 10 million.

(View image version of this chart)


  1. Docomo smartphones are compatible with the service, which it promotes since the carrier is a stakeholder in NotTV (along with Dentsu).  ↩

7 crazy apps from Japan that should be April Fools’ jokes, but aren’t

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Earlier we told you about seven April Fools pranks from around the Japanese web today. And in keeping with the theme of this very tedious day, here are seven made-in-Japan mobile applications that we sort of wish were April Fools’ Day jokes. But incredibly, these are all real. 1. Face Pants Camera There something of a running joke in some circles in Japan called ‘kaopan,’ where folks sport ladies panties over their faces. One software developer has recently taken things a step further by creating an Android app called Kao Pants Camera, an AR application that superimposes a pair of panties over your head, just in case you don’t have any handy. (ht VS Media) 2. Kenstagram: Photobombing centaur Another bizarre photo application is the ever-so-strange Kenstagram, which has a variety of filters like many photo apps. But when you take your picture, a pesky centaur pops into the frame, photobombing your pic. It’s truly one of the weirder apps I’ve come across, but is strangely fun at the same time. Check it out over on iTunes. 3. Battle Cats, and its odd sense of humor This very weird (but awesome) game has a strange sense of humor when describing…

Earlier we told you about seven April Fools pranks from around the Japanese web today. And in keeping with the theme of this very tedious day, here are seven made-in-Japan mobile applications that we sort of wish were April Fools’ Day jokes. But incredibly, these are all real.

1. Face Pants Camera

There something of a running joke in some circles in Japan called ‘kaopan,’ where folks sport ladies panties over their faces. One software developer has recently taken things a step further by creating an Android app called Kao Pants Camera, an AR application that superimposes a pair of panties over your head, just in case you don’t have any handy. (ht VS Media)

kaopan

2. Kenstagram: Photobombing centaur

Another bizarre photo application is the ever-so-strange Kenstagram, which has a variety of filters like many photo apps. But when you take your picture, a pesky centaur pops into the frame, photobombing your pic. It’s truly one of the weirder apps I’ve come across, but is strangely fun at the same time. Check it out over on iTunes.

kenstagram

3. Battle Cats, and its odd sense of humor

This very weird (but awesome) game has a strange sense of humor when describing the characters in the game. Among the more notable foe descriptions (and I’m quoting directly here):

  • “Hippo: This dangerous Bi-sexual hippo has confidence in stamina and power. She has multi-attack skill.”
  • “Croco: He was saved by Dundee. Took many licenses by correspondence education.”
  • “Elephant: His idol girl is chubby with big tits. Loves collecting porn magazines”

The game’s odd approach appears to have won it quite a few fans too. More than 4 million, in fact.

battle-cats-4-million

4. Alpaca-bashing game ‘Alpaca nii-san’

Much like the afore-mentioned Battle Cats, this game has its cute moments until the ridiculousness overwhelms you. It starts out as a peaceful field full of alpacas, until one goes rogue and starts bashing his brothers in the hopes of absorbing them and evolving into, well, something more. We’re just not sure what that ‘something’ is. Check it out for yourself over on iTunes or on Google Play.

brother-alpaca

5. ‘Everyday ear-picking’ mobile game

Yes, its a game based on cleaning your ears. Or rather, based on cleaning someone else’s ears. These kinds of ear picks are often used here in Asia, and the service is often offered in some spas. But to base a mobile game around ear picking? We wish it was a joke, but sadly its not! Get it for iOS or Android if you dare.

ear-picking-game

6. Porn star calculator

I don’t use calculator apps very often, but this is one that I had to test out. For science, as they say. Mihiro Calculator works just like any other calculator app, except that when you press the buttons, Mihiro (who is a porn acrtess, by the way — did I not mention that?) speaks each button press in a variety of voices. Some of them sexier are than others, so proceed with care if you try it out yourself. Get it on iTunes here.

mihiro-calculator

7. And a bouncing prime minister

This is a weird app from the folks over at Riko Design, starring the current Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe jumping on a trampoline in front of the National Diet Building. Your challenge is to time the jumps just right to propel him higher into the stratosphere. Like many of the games above, it doesn’t really make sense, but it’s sort of fun anyway! Get it on the App Store if you’d like to try it for yourself.

abe-jump

DeNA launches ‘Groovy’ music distribution platform, adding social to the listening experience

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DeNA (TYO:2432), the Japanese internet giant behind the Mobage social gaming platform and the Comm messaging app, has unveiled its Groovy music player app for the Android platform. An iOS version will follow soon. It was developed using an app framework from Discodear, the music player app developed by Tokyo-based web conglomerate United. It allows users to play their favorites from a selection of more than 1 million songs, in partnership with 39 music labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music, and Victor Entertainment. When you signs up for an account, you receive complimentary tickets worth 30 credits, with one credit allowing you to listen to a song up to three times a month. Tickets worth 17 credits are available for 99 yen (or about a dollar), and complimentary tickets will be given when you invite your friends to the service as well. Prior to the purchase of a song, users are allowed a 45-second preview. The app has also a social media function, which lets you be a ‘fan’ of a song when you listen to it more than three times. The interest graph lets you see what other users with similar tastes are listening to. This feature is…

groovy_logoDeNA (TYO:2432), the Japanese internet giant behind the Mobage social gaming platform and the Comm messaging app, has unveiled its Groovy music player app for the Android platform. An iOS version will follow soon.

It was developed using an app framework from Discodear, the music player app developed by Tokyo-based web conglomerate United. It allows users to play their favorites from a selection of more than 1 million songs, in partnership with 39 music labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music, and Victor Entertainment.

When you signs up for an account, you receive complimentary tickets worth 30 credits, with one credit allowing you to listen to a song up to three times a month. Tickets worth 17 credits are available for 99 yen (or about a dollar), and complimentary tickets will be given when you invite your friends to the service as well. Prior to the purchase of a song, users are allowed a 45-second preview.

groovy_screenshot

The app has also a social media function, which lets you be a ‘fan’ of a song when you listen to it more than three times. The interest graph lets you see what other users with similar tastes are listening to. This feature is also intended to promote live performances to users [1].

For more than 900,000 out of the million songs in the archive, the app can shows you lyrics while you listen. This obviously would be great preparation for Karaoke sessions, for anyone who is into that sort of thing!

Spotify-like flat-rate subscription models are attracting a lot of customers in the overseas market [2]. But DeNA figures that such models would be harder in terms of user acquisition, this according to the company’s CEO Isao Moriyasu. They have no intention to integrate the service with their gaming platform or other services, but they expect to create a social network platform specifically designed for sharing music experiences.


  1. Korean music startup, Mironi, who we’ve recently featured in Japanese, has a very similar concept. The DeNA music app will be a formidable competitor for them in the Japanese market.  ↩

  2. Spotify is still unavailable here in Japan.  ↩

2012 was Apple’s first year on top of Japan’s mobile market

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IDC Japan has released its figures on the Japan mobile market for 2012, and it will likely come as no surprise that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) held the largest share of the smartphone market at 33.1%. Readers may recall that it was just a year ago that Apple topped the smartphone market for the first time in the country. But what I find interesting here is the less imposing figure for the mobile market overall, where Apple now leads with 23.3%. If we compare this with IDC figures from 2011 (see below), it shows just how much progress the Cupertino company has made in Japan, leapfrogging Sharp and Fujitsu [1] for its first year on top of the entire mobile market. Anyone remember that old Wired article from a few years back? Yeah, that doesn’t age so well. [IDC Japan] In IDC’s 2011 report it was ‘Fujitsu/Toshiba’, as it was prior to Fujitsu acquiring Toshiba’s stake in Fujitsu Mobile, which occurred in April 2012.  ↩

IDC Japan has released its figures on the Japan mobile market for 2012, and it will likely come as no surprise that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) held the largest share of the smartphone market at 33.1%. Readers may recall that it was just a year ago that Apple topped the smartphone market for the first time in the country.

But what I find interesting here is the less imposing figure for the mobile market overall, where Apple now leads with 23.3%. If we compare this with IDC figures from 2011 (see below), it shows just how much progress the Cupertino company has made in Japan, leapfrogging Sharp and Fujitsu [1] for its first year on top of the entire mobile market. Anyone remember that old Wired article from a few years back? Yeah, that doesn’t age so well. [IDC Japan]

japan-mobile-market-2012-idc-japan


  1. In IDC’s 2011 report it was ‘Fujitsu/Toshiba’, as it was prior to Fujitsu acquiring Toshiba’s stake in Fujitsu Mobile, which occurred in April 2012.  ↩