When MacRumors reported that iPhone X was added to Apple’s obsolete product list, my first thought was good riddance. Most iPhone users outside of Japan don’t know about the iPhone X NFC problem because it destroyed the Express Transit experience at a time when Japan was the only country with the feature. Express Transit debuted in Japan with the launch of Apple Pay Suica in October 2016, and Japan was the only country to enjoy widespread Express Transit use until the arrival of EMV Express Transit in iOS 12.3 in May 2019 and subsequent launches of Express Transit on Portland HOP, MTA OMNY and TfL Oyster that same year.*
The iPhone X NFC problem is best explained in this video. Sometimes iPhone X Suica worked fine (1st gate), sometime the time the gate flickered red then cleared (2nd gate), sometimes a full error required a re-read after the gate reader reset (3rd gate). In my experience 1 out of 3 NFC attempts resulted in an error on transit gates and store readers. It’s important to remember that Mobile Suica users use Suica Express Transit a lot: on an average work day I would tap through 6 gates and make various purchases (morning coffee, lunch, etc.) with Suica. Easily 10 taps a day, but remember that Express Transit has express in the name for a reason: gate taps and Suica purchases are made while you’re on the go. Users get very frustrated when ‘go’ becomes ‘stop’ or worse yet, ‘reset and try again’.
Not all iPhone X units had the NFC defect but a significant number did, myself included, and affected Japanese users were constantly complaining on social media. Early replacement units didn’t solve the problem for many, again myself included, but an anonymous (Apple employee?) tip suggested tracking iPhone X manufacturing dates. After many weeks of digging with the help of users experiencing iPhone X NFC problems, I found that units manufactured from April 2018 were free of the NFC problem.
The whole time this was happening Apple refused to admit there was any problem. Apple Support and Apple Store Genius bar staff acted dumb saying they had never heard of any NFC problem with iPhone X. Getting a replacement for faulty NFC was not easy and took a lot of determination. Fortunately my second iPhone X replacement was a post April 2018 ‘revision B’ iPhone X. Suica worked without any problems after that. Interestingly enough, when a iPhone X user got his unit replaced there was an internal service bulletin admitting the iPhone X NFC issue.
So what’s the point of explaining the iPhone X NFC problem and what does it have to do with Google Pixel in Japan? It’s this: Apple completely ignored a significant problem in a popular premium iPhone model in an important market. Apple swept the problem under the rug because in the Tim Cook era of relentless focus on China, a Japanese only problem wasn’t a problem, Japan was expendable. I guarantee you things would have been very different if Express Transit had been up and running on MTA OMNY and TfL Oyster with complaining iPhone X users.
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that iPhone X was peak Apple in Japan, a prick in a huge mindshare blimp that’s been slowly deflating ever since. Meanwhile Google Pixel sales debuted in Japan with FeliCa capable Pixel 3 in November 2018…perfect timing to catch disgruntled iPhone X users. FeliCa support is one of the most under-discussed but genuinely decisive factors in Pixel’s relative success in Japan, and many global market analysts treat it as a minor localization detail rather than a core product requirement. Google clearly understood that the success of Apple Pay in Japan was its seamless support of FeliCa payments and transit wrapped in a simple UI experience that stripped away the fussy compilations of Android Osaifu-Keitai.
Google also invested marketing muscle in Japan with Japanese made ads, especially for Pixel (and recently Google services). Meanwhile Apple ads were and are the same global wishy washy DEI stuff they have been serving up for years; localized iPhone ads are limited to carrier produced spots. The recent Google Store Omotesando grand opening had the kind of buzz that Apple Store used to have, and Japan is Pixel’s strongest market, estimated at 11% to 15% marketshare and growing.
Google’s long term Japan focus is clearly paying off but there is a more important measure: mindshare. Japanese tech media has been migrating to the Pixel camp for years now as they perceive Google Pixel being more innovative and competitive than Apple iPhone. They see Apple as resting on its laurels charging premium prices. When a top journalist like Tsutomu Ishikawa, who broke the FeliCa coming to iPhone 7 story in the summer of 2016, casually posts something like, “Pixel isn’t about stealing share from other Androids; Android forces need to band together and snag users from iPhone.”
That kind of statement and similar ones should be ringing alarm bells in Cupertino, but these days I doubt those even register.
*I’m excluding the beta launch of Beijing Yikatong and Shanghai transit cards in March 2018. The official China T-Union transit card release wasn’t until April 2020 and real-world adoption of Apple Pay transit in China is much more limited and secondary than in the other major systems (Suica, OMNY, Oyster, Opal, etc.). Apple Pay’s share of overall mobile payments in China has remained very low compared with Alipay/WeChat QR with the majority of people using those for transit.
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