Apple pre-order weekend for iPhone XS/XS Max and Apple Watch Series 4 is winding down. There was far less excitement this year in Japan than before. Ming-Chi Kuo is already trimming his iPhone XS exceptions. The local Docomo shop backed this up. The desk clerk said, “We’ve got iPhone pre-orders but it had been quiet this year.”
Reading Japanese reactions on Twitter it’s easy to see that many are waiting to see what Japanese market support Google announces at the Pixel 3 October 9 event. If Pixel 3 comes with Global FeliCa support like iPhone does, the Google Pay Japan flop withstanding, Japanese iPhone X users disgusted by the iPhone X NFC debacle will gladly take switch.
If there is one thing I have learned after 30 years here is that Japanese are very unattached to things. When something better comes along they coolly size the situation and take it. A lot of Japanese in the blog sphere are saying Apple iPhone has peaked out in Japan. If that turns out to be true in the months ahead, Apple has nobody to blame but themselves.
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