macnn
07/08/2008, 10:05am, EDT
Tuesday, July 8th
Softbank details iPhone launch day for Japan
Japan's Softbank has announced launch-day plans for the country's first iPhone, according to IDG News. The carrier says that it will be one of the first in the world to sell the iPhone 3G, opening the doors of its Harajuku store at 7AM Friday JST, a time equivalent to 10PM Thursday in GMT, or 2PM Thursday in PST. The only country to launch before Japan should be New Zealand, where the 3G is being carried by Vodafone.
Major retailers, and Softbank shops outside of Harajuku, will sell the phone several hours later beginning at noon JST. The launch is said to be highly anticipated in Japan for several reasons, foremost being compatibility -- residents have not even been able to use unlocked 2.5G phones, as the country is networked via W-CDMA, rather than the global GSM standard.
Filed under: iPhone
Other story tags: iPhone 3G, japan, Softbank
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Very much anticipated
Yeah, I would definitely say that it is anticipated. I have called many many Softbank shops and it seems that for just a couple of days after the news was announced, several shops took reservations and it is at the moment hard to find a shop that has any. They did close reservations shortly after however the ones who did place it can take advantage.
Also, calling many shops. Every one that I called are saying that they have 50 to 100 calls about it everyday.
I hope that I can find a store that has one!!!
hype
Unfortunately, this is the only publicizing SoftBank is doing here. Everything is being done last minute. I passed several SoftBank shops on my commute to work today, and NOT ONE OF THEM has any sign or advertisement or anything for the iPhone.
Although I'm hoping the iPhone does well here, the ¥7000 monthly fee puts it out of consideration for me. I can afford it, but I can also afford to wait for better priced plans and iPhone service problems that are apt to be had from SoftBank. Besides, why throw away my ¥2500/month waterproof Casio, when most of the iPhone internet features are on my iPod Touch.
Umijin-san, let us know
...when the iPhone is released, if the users like it or not or if you see a lot of people start carrying them around. WinMo users swear no Japanese will touch an iPhone since it lacks 1-Seg and FeliCa, not to mention a real keyboard. I'm thinking this is just speculation, but I'm really curious to know if the iPhone will be a huge failure in Japan.
I say they'll like it for ease of use, gaming capabilities, manga-reading cabilities and Youtube watching capabilities.
re the above comments
My friend here found a Softbank store that was taking reservations, so I went last week and reserved one. But the other stores she asked at weren't taking reservations.
I'd heard ¥10,000/month so, to me ¥7,000 sounds great. My DoCoMo plan usually costs me between ¥4,500-6,000 a month anyway.
There are definitely a lot of Japanese that won't trade in (awful) Japanese TV on their phones for an iPhone, but two things I'd point out is that Softbank (and Vodafone before it) is the preferred company for most foreigners who are less attached to unique-to-Japan keitai features, plus for any interest/hobby/movement, there are always a lot of Japanese people involved, so you can be sure there are a ton of Japanese Macolytes who will be all over the iPhone.