Japan’s third-ranked mobile carrier Softbank reported Wednesday it had 229,500 cell phone subscribers in June, topping the country’s biggest carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc., which recorded 164,000. Second-ranked KDDI Corp. had just 61,300 new subscribers. Softbank is the exclusive iPhone provider in a country where nearly three out of four smartphones are made by Apple.
In April, Softbank’s head, Masayoshi Son, said “the iPhone is selling so well that we are really feeling a boost from it.”Apple sold 1.7 million iPhones in Japan, 72 percent of all smartphones in that country. Indeed, the iPhone is credited with doubling the smartphone segment over 2009, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Softbank has aggressively marketed the iPhone, using tactics such as nearly round-the-clock television commercials, print ads and pricing (such as a free 16GB iPhone with a two-year commitment.) However, Softbank now faces a new competitive factor: unlocked phones.
The Japanese government is “encouraging” cell phone carriers to drop locking handsets to specific providers. The move, seen as providing consumers more options, could become leverage for NTT DoCoMo and KDDI to fight back against the iPhone’s attraction. While the move to unlock cell phones is currently voluntary, DoCoMo has announced plans to unlock its phones next April. While Softbank so far has refused to go along with the trend, it is unclear how they will compete without also offering Japanese consumers the option.
