No doubt, iPod is extremely successful in Japan, being one of the top selling iTunes stores. When iTunes Japan opened in August 2005, it sold one million songs in four days!! No wonder why the price of iPod in Japan is lower than in many other markets. The Japanese do download songs legally.
Some reports say that iPhone will be launched in Japan brought by Disney, as an MVNO over the Softbank network. See the story.
Mickey Mouse MVNO would bring content from Disney to the iPhone, in what could be a very compelling offer.
iPhone support for UMTS (3G) will be a pre-requisite to launch in Japan. With the Japanese obsession for clamshell phones, will iPhone surrender to Japanese habits, or will Apple succeed also in transforming the mobile phone market in Japan?
Apple already transformed the music industry. It seems easier to convince Japanese users of the advantages of a touch screen
Related posts:
Good point on the flip phones.
If the Japanese do not surrender to iPhone, there is something wrong in their minds.
See Business Week article:
Does Japan need the iPhone?
By Kenji Hall
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,62035820,00.htm?new_submission=1