Comments on: Cost of the iPhone 3G in Rural Japan

By: Austin

Austin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:54:52 +0000

Great idea, Carolyn. I’ll try to get something up soon about the experience.

Thanks!

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:48:35 +0000

How about a follow up? Did the cost go up astronomically with the increased use of GPS? Was there any other fine print you didn’t know about? Do you guys stand behind the purchase? What’s the latest? :)

By: Catching Up on Japan Posts | Foreigner's Finances

Catching Up on Japan Posts | Foreigner's Finances — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:02:09 +0000

[...] Cost of the iPhone 3G in Rural Japan – Corinne bought an iPhone and I do my best to decipher the complex contract to see how it compares to buying one in America. [...]

By: Catching Up on International Posts | Foreigner's Finances

Catching Up on International Posts | Foreigner's Finances — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:43:01 +0000

[...] Cost of the iPhone 3G in Rural Japan Corinne bought an iPhone for the map capabilities and drum kit app (oh, that was why I wanted it) so I did my best at deciphering the bill to find out the true cost of the phone. [...]

By: Austin

Austin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:04:56 +0000

Thanks for tip. Excited to head home for break?

By: S!J

S!J — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:29:02 +0000

yo, it’s not only the white plan users that get free texting/calls ~ it’s any softbank user.

viewing PC websites on your keitai (and iPhone i assume) eat up packets like stupid crazy. however, websites that are made specifically for mobile viewing are not bad at all.

By: 28th Carnival of Money Stories II – Winter in Arizona Edition | Out of Debt Again

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:15:24 +0000

[...] at why it’s so cheap in Japan and how much it will cost month to month over the next year in Cost of the iPhone 3G in Rural Japan posted at Foreigner’s [...]

By: Austin

Austin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:15:01 +0000

At first I was surprised about their fascination with emoticons, but after being here four months and seeing how much they enjoy cute things I’m no longer suprised.

Thanks for the comment and sweet blog name, man.

By: billywest

billywest — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:28:28 +0000

I think it would be safer to say that the iPhone isn’t as popular in Japan as it was expected to be, especially given how most Japanese have sacked Sony Walkmans and have really fallen in love with the iPod. One of the things that hurt the iPhone right out of the gate in Japan (and yeah, most people outside of Japan think it’s silly) was the lack of emoji (emoticons) for texting. Yeah, the application came out soon after and they’re now standard with iPhones, but that was a marketing failure that any Western company would have made.

As far as the cancellation fees go, they’ve always been pretty up-front about that with me at Softbank.

And, remember, the 3Gs 16GB is at that low, discounted price while the 2-year contract is honored. If you break the contract, you’ll be billed something like 2700 yen per month for the phone for the remaining months. Actually, Softbank does this with most of their recent-model phones.

Anyway, congrats on the purchase, and enjoy!

By: Austin

Austin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:33:51 +0000

I found these articles which kind of back up my argument.

This Wired article breaks down exactly what the Japanese don’t like about the iPhone: http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/05/iphone-3gs-ranked-1-in-cellphone-sales-in-japan-for-now/

And this blog recently shows how the 3GS was the #1 phone, but it may not last: http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/05/iphone-3gs-ranked-1-in-cellphone-sales-in-japan-for-now/

I guess we’ll have to see it a year or so if the numbers hold up.