Apple plans opening of first new Tokyo retail store since 2005
The coming months will see the construction of Apple's first new retail outlet in Japan's capital city of Tokyo in 8 years, according to a new report.
The coming months will see the construction of Apple's first new retail outlet in Japan's capital city of Tokyo in 8 years, according to a new report.
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.
Apple's iPhone may hold the top spot among smartphones in the Japanese market, but a recent push by Sony and a major carrier has its Xperia handsets rushing up the sales charts.
Sales of the iPhone in Japan reached 7.25 million units in all of 2011, making Apple the top smartphone vendor in the country.
Sony's new CEO Kazuo Hirai announced on Thursday an aggressive plan to turn around the ailing electronics titan that will result in 10,000 job cuts.
A Japanese-language TV program has recorded a Foxconn recruiter in Taiyuan, China as saying that Apple will release its next-generation iPhone in June.
Apple added Japanese language support to Siri last week with the release of iOS 5.1, but some Japanese speakers are having trouble being understood by the voice assistant.
During the winter quarter, Apple's iPhone topped smartphone sales in Japan for the first time, with 26.6 percent market share.
Apple's Siri virtual assistant for the iPhone 4S claims it can already speak Japanese, despite the fact that the language is not yet enabled in the feature's settings.
Kazuo Hirai, Sony's newly-announced President and CEO, has ambitious plans for the consumer electronics giant that entail strategies that are often strongly associated with Apple: centralized top-down decision-making on products and a focus on software and service combined with hardware.
Apple's policy that prevents partners from pre-installing software on the iPhone has stalled a possible partnership with Japan's largest wireless operator NTT DoCoMo.
Apple's chief executive Tim Cook admitted that iPad sales have likely eaten up some sales of Macs, but noted record new levels of Macs sold globally and added that a "materially larger number are buying iPads over [generic] PCs."
Japanese carrier KDDI will break up rival Softbank's exclusive hold on Apple's iPhone in the country early next year, when it will reportedly begin selling the iPhone 5.
Apple's legal challenges against Samsung, which have succeeded in barring sales of its Galaxy Tab and Galaxy smartphones in some countries, have extended to Japan with another lawsuit.
Apple has been forced to turn to alternative suppliers after at least one component maker in Japan has been unable to meet demand following the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.
The rollout of Apple's iPad 2 in Asia drew thousands of interested customers looking to be among the first to officially purchase the touchscreen tablet in their countries.
Apple on Wednesday officially announced that the iPad 2 will debut in Japan, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and UAE this week [updated].
Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan did not have a material impact on the supply or availability of components for Apple's iPad 2 or other products last quarter, and he also does not expect the situation to affect the company in the near future.
More than a month after a deadly earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, the longterm effects on Apple's supply chain are becoming clearer, with report characterizing them as "significantly damaged."
A new report out of the Far East alleges that Apple has agreed to absorb increased costs for upstream Japanese components in order to prevent shipping delays of the iPad 2.
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