The writing was on the wall when Docomo dropped the price of iPhone XR shortly after it went on sale. Shortly after that Tim Cook explained the Japanese market situation in the 1Q 2019 earnings call:
In Japan, iPhone purchases were traditionally subsidized, bundled with carrier contracts. Today, local regulations have significantly restricted those subsidies as well as related competition. We estimate less than half of iPhones sold in Japan in Q1 this year were sold via subsidy.
One year later Apple announced record earnings for Q1 2020 but Japan iPhone sales with down 10% y/y. Luca Maestri only explained the situation at the end of the earnings call, answering the very last analyst question:
So Japan was down 10 percent during the December quarter. It was primarily due to iPhone performance, which was challenged because there were some regulatory changes that took effect on the 1st of October, where essentially the regulators decoupled the mobile phone pricing from the two year contracts and they’re capping the maximum amount of carrier discounts that can can be made. At the same time, I would say that within a more difficult macro environment, iPhone did incredibly well during the quarter. Six of the top seven selling smartphone models in Japan during the December quarter were iPhones. So it was a very strong performance by iPhone in a difficult environment. Also in Japan, we had very strong double digit growth from services, stronger than company average, and very strong double digit growth in wearables, also stronger than company average. So we feel very good. You know, Japan is is a country where historically we’ve had great success. The customers are very loyal and very engaged. And we have a very strong position there and we feel we have a very good momentum.
Six Colors
I don’t think Japanese iPhone customers will stay loyal and engaged if Apple sticks with the same old sales strategies now that the era of carrier bundling is over. A new approach is needed. Maestri alluded to one clear advantage remaining for Apple in the Japanese market: Apple Pay Suica on Apple Watch, an advantage no other device manufacturer has matched yet. That advantage along with the golden opportunity of the Tokyo Olympics this year are market opportunities which Apple is not taking advantage of.
I said it before: Apple Pay Suica on global NFC iPhone/Apple Watch is a great way for inbound visitors to get around town during the Tokyo Olympic games this summer and Google Pay Suica is still not available for inbound Android users. It’s weird Apple isn’t marketing that.