It looks like Apple is working with Japanese carriers to drum up iPhone XR sales. Docomo already issued a limited iPhone XR discount campaign in December aimed mainly at carrier switchers. Today’s SoftBank announcement of the “iPhone XR Happy Price Campaign” that launches on January 30 appears to be a broader ¥10,800 discount for customers who purchase a iPhone XR with a 2 year contract. However the campaign page says nothing about upgrades. I guess the devil will be in the details.
As Tim Cook mentioned in his letter to investors, carrier subsidies are going away in other markets and Japan as well. Docomo, KDDI au and SoftBank are in a transition away from subsides under pressure from the Japanese Government to get consumer monthly data and voice costs down.