Japan hammer by usa
TOKYO—The debut of Apple Inc.'s iPad tablet computer in Japan is generating a level of hype and excitement rarely seen these days for a new electronics product in this gadget-loving nation, underscoring the paucity of buzz-worthy, homegrown devices.
The iPad Hype
Kazuki Miura, right, a 38-year-old freelance writer, was the first person in line at the flagship store of Softbank, the iPad's exclusive Japanese wireless carrier Friday.
The steady decline of Japan's electronics industry, once considered the birthplace for must-have gadgets, has accelerated in recent years as consumer electronics newcomers such as Apple, Amazon.com Inc. and Vizio Inc. have moved in on the turf with more innovative or cheaper versions of products first developed in Japan.
All the while, Japanese electronics firms have been beaten at their own game by deep-pocketed South Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics Co. Hindered by weakened finances and averse to risk-taking, Japanese companies have relied on impressive but largely incremental improvements—thinner, brighter, smaller—to existing products.
While Japanese companies prioritized hardware muscle and superior specifications, overseas rivals emphasized user interface and software to enhance ease of use.
Japan Real Time
Is This Man the No. 1 iPad Fan in Japan? IPad Is Already In Japan, But Don't Use It Japan's Publishers Ponder Apple's iPad After already selling more than one million units in the U.S. since going on sale April 3, the iPad launches Friday in Japan and eight other countries. Softbank Corp., Apple's exclusive mobile carrier in Japan for the iPad, stopped accepting reservations for the device after only three days.
More than a half-dozen Japanese business and technology magazines ran cover stories about the iPad's debut, with one declaring in English: "Here comes the game-changer."
Lines were forming Thursday at Apple stores and Softbank outlets in Tokyo. Most of the waiting customers had already reserved an iPad a few weeks earlier, but they were willing to wait overnight to get the device as soon as the doors open.
"Japanese products are very capable and powerful, but they don't have the same charm as ones made by Apple," said 21-year-old college student Kazuto Ishimura, who was the third customer on line outside the Apple store in the upscale Ginza neighborhood.
While Japanese companies remain major global players in flat-panel televisions, digital cameras and videogame systems, they have almost no presence outside of Japan in personal computers, mobile phones or home appliances. Conversely, most foreign electronics brands have had little success in Japan.
Part of the problem, according to industry executives and analysts, is a divide between the needs of Japanese consumers and the rest of the world's.
Takechiyo Yamanaka, seen here May 27, 2010, has been waiting in line since Wednesday outside Apple's store in Ginza, Tokyo, to purchase an iPad. The iPad will be released in Japan on Friday.
In Japan, detail-oriented consumers prefer to buy Japanese products packed with features and read thick instruction manuals from cover to cover. Most buyers outside of Japan expect new products to be simple and intuitive, and they are less concerned about a product's point of origin.
"The consumer in Japan thinks very differently than the global consumer," said Atul Goyal, an analyst at brokerage firm CLSA. "Once Japanese companies try to sell things to a global market, they need to understand how a global consumer reacts."
Apple's iPhone has proved wrong skeptics who said the handset wouldn't resonate with consumers in Japan because it lacked many uniquely Japanese features. One explanation is that Apple products have become a brand-name accessory, the technological equivalent of another Japanese favorite: a Louis Vuitton bag.
"When you are the first one to get hold of a new gadget, it's important that people around you already know a little bit about the product and can recognize it," said Toshiyuki Ueno, an engineer and technology consultant, who got an iPad last month in the U.S. and has a reservation to buy a 3G version in Japan. "When you want to show off your new gadget, it doesn't quite work if you have to do a lot of explaining."
It remains to be seen whether the iPad can sustain its initial enthusiasm in Japan. Softbank says it is under strict orders from Apple not to disclose how many reservations it has accepted or how many will be distributed Friday. It wouldn't even disclose whether consumers could buy the iPad on Friday without a reservation.
Japanese electronics companies Sony Corp. and NEC Corp. have already expressed interest in creating similar devices, while Dell Inc. has unveiled plans for a tablet computer of its own, but some consumers believe the iPad launch could be a historic moment for Japan.
In one Twitter exchange, Mitsuru Yoshii, who works at a music school in Tokyo, sent a message to Softbank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son saying that the iPad was the "21st century's black ships."
In response to the historical reference to the U.S. Naval fleet that opened up Japan to the West in 1853, Mr. Son, who aggressively sought out Apple to bring the iPhone and now the iPad to the carrier's network, wrote back: "Indeed!"
TOKYO—The debut of Apple Inc.'s iPad tablet computer in Japan is generating a level of hype and excitement rarely seen these days for a new electronics product in this gadget-loving nation, underscoring the paucity of buzz-worthy, homegrown devices.
The iPad Hype
Kazuki Miura, right, a 38-year-old freelance writer, was the first person in line at the flagship store of Softbank, the iPad's exclusive Japanese wireless carrier Friday.
The steady decline of Japan's electronics industry, once considered the birthplace for must-have gadgets, has accelerated in recent years as consumer electronics newcomers such as Apple, Amazon.com Inc. and Vizio Inc. have moved in on the turf with more innovative or cheaper versions of products first developed in Japan.
All the while, Japanese electronics firms have been beaten at their own game by deep-pocketed South Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics Co. Hindered by weakened finances and averse to risk-taking, Japanese companies have relied on impressive but largely incremental improvements—thinner, brighter, smaller—to existing products.
While Japanese companies prioritized hardware muscle and superior specifications, overseas rivals emphasized user interface and software to enhance ease of use.
Japan Real Time
Is This Man the No. 1 iPad Fan in Japan? IPad Is Already In Japan, But Don't Use It Japan's Publishers Ponder Apple's iPad After already selling more than one million units in the U.S. since going on sale April 3, the iPad launches Friday in Japan and eight other countries. Softbank Corp., Apple's exclusive mobile carrier in Japan for the iPad, stopped accepting reservations for the device after only three days.
More than a half-dozen Japanese business and technology magazines ran cover stories about the iPad's debut, with one declaring in English: "Here comes the game-changer."
Lines were forming Thursday at Apple stores and Softbank outlets in Tokyo. Most of the waiting customers had already reserved an iPad a few weeks earlier, but they were willing to wait overnight to get the device as soon as the doors open.
"Japanese products are very capable and powerful, but they don't have the same charm as ones made by Apple," said 21-year-old college student Kazuto Ishimura, who was the third customer on line outside the Apple store in the upscale Ginza neighborhood.
While Japanese companies remain major global players in flat-panel televisions, digital cameras and videogame systems, they have almost no presence outside of Japan in personal computers, mobile phones or home appliances. Conversely, most foreign electronics brands have had little success in Japan.
Part of the problem, according to industry executives and analysts, is a divide between the needs of Japanese consumers and the rest of the world's.
Takechiyo Yamanaka, seen here May 27, 2010, has been waiting in line since Wednesday outside Apple's store in Ginza, Tokyo, to purchase an iPad. The iPad will be released in Japan on Friday.
In Japan, detail-oriented consumers prefer to buy Japanese products packed with features and read thick instruction manuals from cover to cover. Most buyers outside of Japan expect new products to be simple and intuitive, and they are less concerned about a product's point of origin.
"The consumer in Japan thinks very differently than the global consumer," said Atul Goyal, an analyst at brokerage firm CLSA. "Once Japanese companies try to sell things to a global market, they need to understand how a global consumer reacts."
Apple's iPhone has proved wrong skeptics who said the handset wouldn't resonate with consumers in Japan because it lacked many uniquely Japanese features. One explanation is that Apple products have become a brand-name accessory, the technological equivalent of another Japanese favorite: a Louis Vuitton bag.
"When you are the first one to get hold of a new gadget, it's important that people around you already know a little bit about the product and can recognize it," said Toshiyuki Ueno, an engineer and technology consultant, who got an iPad last month in the U.S. and has a reservation to buy a 3G version in Japan. "When you want to show off your new gadget, it doesn't quite work if you have to do a lot of explaining."
It remains to be seen whether the iPad can sustain its initial enthusiasm in Japan. Softbank says it is under strict orders from Apple not to disclose how many reservations it has accepted or how many will be distributed Friday. It wouldn't even disclose whether consumers could buy the iPad on Friday without a reservation.
Japanese electronics companies Sony Corp. and NEC Corp. have already expressed interest in creating similar devices, while Dell Inc. has unveiled plans for a tablet computer of its own, but some consumers believe the iPad launch could be a historic moment for Japan.
In one Twitter exchange, Mitsuru Yoshii, who works at a music school in Tokyo, sent a message to Softbank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son saying that the iPad was the "21st century's black ships."
In response to the historical reference to the U.S. Naval fleet that opened up Japan to the West in 1853, Mr. Son, who aggressively sought out Apple to bring the iPhone and now the iPad to the carrier's network, wrote back: "Indeed!"
