HONG KONG —

The iPhone 3G, which Apple is billing as twice as fast and half as expensive as the debut model, will roll out in cities from Tokyo to Sydney on Friday—but it could face challenges in Asia it will not have elsewhere.

The company is betting the new phone’s third generation (3G) capabilities, such as faster Internet access and file transfer, will make the phone a hit. Like the first version, the new model also has an iPod built in.

Many analysts are upbeat about its prospects, seeing Apple as a brand with a strong cachet in tech-savvy Asia.

Mancy Li wants to get her hands on Apple’s newest version of the iPhone, but she won’t bother to queue up in Hong Kong when it is released in Asia this week.

“I want to get one because it is trendy. It has a touch screen, it looks pretty and it’s made by Apple,” the 22-year-old visual arts student says.

But she’s prepared to wait and see what happens to the price of running the new version of the phone, which Apple hopes will become as big a global hit as its iconic iPod music player.

“It is going to do well,” Aloysius Choong, of Singapore-based industry research group IDC, said.

“Apple is a strong brand in Asia and this is their maiden mobile phone offering in Asia. Just the Apple aura or the Apple halo means that there will be non-Apple users who will look at the product.”

But in a region where having the latest gadget is almost an obsession, black market debut-version iPhones are already widely available, serviced by countless shops that “unlock” the software to allow them to operate.

With the phone already in circulation, the novelty factor will be less, which could emphasize the importance of pricing for the new model.

And that could prove to be an obstacle. Like elsewhere, Apple is only allowing the iPhone for sale through a limited number of operators—whose pricing plans are not always particularly inexpensive.

Hong Kong users could pay the equivalent of up to $65 a month under a two-year contract, a steep price in a market where monthly mobile packages often cost one-fifth of that.

In Australia, Telstra says customers who sign up for packages around $30 a month will be able to buy the cheapest iPhone 3G for around $270.

Pricing has not been announced in New Zealand by Vodafone, the country’s largest mobile communications carrier, but is likely to be crucial in deciding the iPhone’s success.

“If Vodafone can get close to Telstra’s pricing in Australia, I think they will be on to a winner,” says Scott Bartley, reviews editor of PC World New Zealand.

The iPhone could also face an uphill battle in Japan, where handsets allow users to watch television and pay for goods like a credit card—neither of which the Apple phone can do.

“I can foresee the iPhone storming the rest of Asia but not Japan,” said Yusuke Tsunoda, a telecom analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center. “Compared with Japanese cell phones, it is not technologically superior.”

In the Philippines, meanwhile, where text-messaging is now a routine way to communicate, the phone’s on-screen keyboard—instead of the regular buttons of a traditional cell phone—may be a turn-off.

“This could limit its appeal to the Filipinos, who love to text,” said tech journalist Kendrick Go of the Manila Times.

He said pricing could also be a factor in the Philippines, where much of the population lives on $2 a day or less.

“The iPhone’s popularity in the Philippines will likely be confined to the high-end market,” Go said. “It is just too expensive for the average consumer.”

Finally, some consumers could be turned off if the iPhone becomes too much of a success—and loses its cachet as a status symbol.

“Apple wants to make a big impact but it does not want to make too big an impact in the sense you want to create an image of scarcity and exclusivity,” said the IDC’s Choong.

Mancy Li, in Hong Kong, says the iPhone would lose its appeal for her if everyone had one.

“I won’t get one if I see too many people using it,” Li says. “It won’t be special anymore.”

Wire reports

Latest 15 of 27 Total Comments Show All

• 

  Hoolie at 11:25 AM JST - 7th July

  ey Coligny

  RMGTTF... No AU softcrap explicitly ask for JP version of XP. As I told you, not even the international version with MUI in japanese was working.

  I think I have the phone you're talking bout - you need to go into Regional preferences, and set the code page to Japanese before it will work. It is not enough to have the code page enabled - it must be the default code page.

• 

  terebiko at 01:44 PM JST - 7th July

  Softbank probably isn't promoting the iPhone because they don't have to. The iPhone sells itself. It may also be because customers may not be able to get their hands on an iPhone on the promised date, and it'll be first come first served. Softbank and Apple will also receive free press from all of the wide shows and news programs doing stories on its release.

  Softbank has to make an iPhone commercial with the dog though...

• 

  kenbrady at 01:53 PM JST - 7th July

  Tsunoda (and several comments here) miss the point of the iPhone. It's not about its features in relation to current Japanese phones. It's about the UI (as Coligny said), ease-of-use, and the cool factor. There will be no problem selling the iPhone here. Consider, also, that the iPhone isn't really marketed as a smart phone, nor is it seen as one by the general public. This will allow people who are afraid of the complexity of some smart phones to get a taste. Remember that the subsidies will make the iPhone the cheapest smart phone for sale in Japan.

• 

  movieguy at 02:37 PM JST - 7th July

  Softbank isn't promoting the iPhone because Docomo is being let in on the action.

• 

  oneearth at 04:25 PM JST - 7th July

  no made in china and japan

• 

  Ah_so at 04:44 PM JST - 7th July

  For years Japan has led the way in cell phone technology, being well ahead of Europe, which was itself ahead of the US.

  The iphone is a pretty thing, but it does not have functionality that is particularly new or innovative to the Japanese, but rather stuff they have had for years. The touch screen is innovative, but I expect other phones to have that in the near future.

• 

  proxy at 07:54 PM JST - 7th July

  I agree with the original article, I just can't see this thing selling well in Japan.

• 

  buddha4brains at 07:54 PM JST - 7th July

  Colleague at work said that there is a waiting list developing at Softbank and the mad dash is to the smaller Softbank shops that not yet have a waiting list.

  Asia may be tough to crack, but Japan is open and ready.

• 

  Pukey2 at 09:34 PM JST - 7th July

  As I've said before, I've been waiting for this a long time (I also need a good mp3 player), but I'm NOT going to pay 7,000 yen a month for the plan that comes along with this 'cheap' iphone. Just because it has all these nice functions does not mean the companies should force customers to subscribe to an expensive plan. Unless someone confirms that we can get it with the white plan only (I might be willing to pay up to 1000 yen extra for limited internet access), then I am not getting it. Disappointed, to say the least.

• 

  Youdontknow at 11:48 PM JST - 7th July

  Which bright spark said the iPhone is not 'technologically superior' to Japanese phones?

  Yusuke Tsunoda, a telecom analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center. “Compared with Japanese cell phones, it is not technologically superior.”

  Yusuke, you win the "Dipstick of the day" award!

  The iPhone is WAY more advanced than the average Japanese cell phone! I paid more for my AU phone than the iPhone is priced at, but the only websites I can view are crappy Japanese ones!

  I'm not going to bother buying an iPhone when they come out, as it's easier just to wait and buy it from the recycle store after someone gets bored with it after two months (like they did with my current laptop, valued at $2600, I got it for $1400 and it was only 7 weeks old!). Then, I'll just use one of the easily affordable unlock programs available on the web, and use my current pin card in it. (And yes, it will work)

  There's some good videos and information about the iPhone and the new 3G model here: http://www.inyouriphone.com

• 

  RepublicofTexas at 12:16 AM JST - 8th July

  The iPhone is WAY more advanced than the average Japanese cell phone

  By technologically superior, I think he meant that it didn't cater to the Japanese demand for paying w/ your phone.

• 

  KitsuneYoukai at 03:11 AM JST - 8th July

  Since Japanese like all things trendy when it comes to the youth I don't see it a real problem with the iphone breaking ground in Asia/Japan. I have considered buying the new iphone but the only thing I do not like about it is that it is wide and heavy. When I was in Japan last and rented a cell phone what I liked about them was that they were so light. Not even my Razor was lighter than the Japanese one I rented. However, it also didn't come with all the perks that the iphone has so I guess it is a trade off. I'm still deciding....

• 

  DXXJP at 03:26 AM JST - 8th July

  Im sure most of you know but what Japanese phone will download direct from youtube, or even let you load two or three DVDs to watch. So it dosent pay for you, funny what did people do before the phones they have now. Does this mean pockets are obsolete. The data plan is for unlimited connection so you can surf the web all day anywhere. Or you can hit a wifi hot-spot as well.

  I have had mine since they went on sale. I have had the latest Japanese phones as well as a slew of nokia's. Believe it or not I really prefer the Iphone. With all the available apps threw installer you can build a pretty convenient phone.

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  RMGTTF at 11:56 AM JST - 8th July

  I think I have the phone you're talking bout - you need to go into Regional preferences, and set the code page to Japanese before it will work. It is not enough to have the code page enabled - it must be the default code page.

  Yeah that makes it work. All programs that support multiple languages will also become Japanese though but you can always change the settings back and restart and voila. I used to have that Lismo thing

• 

  Coligny at 12:27 PM JST - 9th July

  Oh people... I love you... Thanks a lot Hoolie...

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