Apple has become the first smartphone brand in a decade to cross the 30 percent mark in market share for mobile phone sales in Japan, according to Counterpoint Research.
The company accounted for a record 34 percent in market share in September. It is worth noting that even domestic brand Sharp, which ruled the Japanese mobile phone market for almost five years, only reached a 26 percent share at its peak.
Counterpoint director Neil Shah attributed the jump to Apple’s deal with leading carrier NTT Docomo, which is the largest mobile operator in Japan with a customer base of 60 million mobile subscribers. This is the first time since the iPhone launched in Japan in 2008 that is available to NTT Docomo users.
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With foreign brands now controlling over half of the market share from less than a fifth of the market three years ago, domestic brands like Sharp and Sony have to fight harder to compete on equal footing.
➤ Apple Captures Record 34 Percent of Japan Mobile Phone Sales in September [Counterpoint Research]
Thumbnail image via Klaus / Flickr
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