Apple Meets with DoCoMo, Softbank On Launching iPhone in Japan
After signing deals with U.S. and European operators to sell its iPhone earlier this year, Apple Inc. now is making plans to enter Japan, one of the biggest and most sophisticated mobile-phone markets in the world.
Context & Ripple Effects
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple, having signed confirmed deals with U.S. and European operators to sell the iPhone earlier in 2007, has held unconfirmed meetings with NTT DoCoMo and Softbank about bringing the device to Japan — one of the world's largest and most sophisticated mobile markets. The claim of talks carries 'rumored' status in our relationship data, so neither carrier's participation should be treated as settled.
The story traveled fast: Gizmodo ('iPhone Coming to Japan') and Engadget ('iPhone coming to Japan's NTT DoCoMo?') both picked it up on or about December 18, 2007, signaling strong enthusiast interest in whether Apple's operator-led launch model can crack a market defined by advanced domestic handsets.
First-order effects
- DoCoMo and Softbank now face a direct strategic choice: signing with Apple would mean accepting the revenue-sharing and control terms Apple established in its U.S. and European deals, while declining risks ceding the device to a rival carrier.
- Whichever Japanese carrier lands the iPhone gains a differentiated flagship handset in a market where device lineups are a primary competitive weapon; the loser faces potential subscriber defection.
Second-order effects
- A Japan entry would force DoCoMo and Softbank to compete on Apple's terms rather than carriers' traditional handset-procurement leverage, extending the bargaining pattern Apple already imposed on American and European operators in 2007.
- Japanese consumers' expectations — shaped by the country's sophisticated phone market — become the test case for whether the iPhone's software-led design translates outside Western markets, with heavy blog attention (Gizmodo, Engadget) amplifying anticipation ahead of any deal.
Third-order effects
- If Apple repeats its operator-deal template in Japan, it reinforces a structural shift in which device makers, not network operators, dictate handset economics across regions — a precedent that shapes every subsequent carrier negotiation.
- Japan's role as a proving ground for the iPhone outside the U.S. and Europe points toward a globally standardized smartphone platform, pressuring carriers everywhere to compete on network and service rather than exclusive hardware.
The trend: Apple is converting the iPhone from a U.S.-and-Europe launch into a carrier-by-carrier global rollout, with Japan's sophisticated mobile market as the next and hardest test of its operator-deal model.