Sam Oliver
NTT DoCoMo Inc., the largest wireless carrier in Japan, has lost 3.2 million users over the last 4 and a half years without carrying the iPhone, yet the carrier remains steadfast in refusing to make a deal with Apple.
The carrier is focused on developing a "lifestyle system," which requires certain software to come preinstalled on phones, NTT DoCoMo CEO Kaoru Kato said in an interview with Reuters. Apple refuses to allow carriers to preinstall apps on the iPhone, and it also will not allow providers to place their logos on its devices — another remaining issue with NTT DoCoMo.
Japan's largest carrier may also have balked at Apple's strict carrier requirements in order to offer the iPhone. As such, the company has shown no urgency to begin offering the iPhone.
But as NTT DoCoMo continues to bleed subscribers, market watchers believe that a deal to carry Apple's iPhone is an inevitability if it wants to retain its place as the top carrier in Japan. In addition to its customers, even some of NTT DoCoMo's executives are reportedly pushing for the carrier to cave and ink a deal with Apple.
NTT DoCoMo is one of just a handful of major carriers outside of the U.S. that does not offer the iPhone. The biggest prize for Apple is China Mobile, the world's largest carrier, with 715 million subscribers.
In contrast, NTT DoCoMo has 60 million subscribers, less than the roughly 100 million customers held by both Verizon and AT&T in the U.S.
The iPhone has also become the most popular smartphone in Japan, accounting for a 42 percent total share in the 2012 holiday shopping season. Sales of Samsung smartphones are only one-fifth of Apple's in the country.
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123 Comments
“NTT DoCoMo is one of just a handful of major carriers around the U.S. that does not offer the iPhone.” Uh…don’t you mean, “…around the [I]world[/I]…”?
Stand your ground Apple! I despise 3rd party software or branding on my equipment. I love the fact that I can open up the Apple product, I paid for and see it as a true Apple product. No Intel stickers, No ATT, Verizon.... I have a nice clean piece of hardware, no bloatware and no propaganda from companies I don't care for!
"Lifestyle system" is something all PC vendors except Apple gave up years ago. Tell me how phone companies can ever compete with the number of social media sites. If this were China talking, I could see how the government would want a closed system but we're talking about Japan. Can they actually provide as good of a closed system as Apple offers? Doubt it. Adding stupid stickers to a computer is something I believe even PC users hate. If they want to add decoration to their devices it's decoration they choose not some manufacturers name like on Nascar cars. iOS can be customized but the cellular provider is the last one I'd want doing it.
Stand your ground, Apple. No bloat ware or extraneous logos on the iPhone. Hey NTT DoCoMo, put your crap app in the App Store like everyone else.
I can understand NTT DoCoMo's position. They're one of the few carriers worldwide who've managed to create custom services that users actually want. Their brand value is way higher than any Western carrier.
They've been leaking customers for several reasons, the largest being the fairly recent (i.e. in the last 4.5 years) introduction of number portability. I'm sure people are leaving for the iPhone too.