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Samsung top 2012 phone brand, ousting Nokia

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© 2012 AFP

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Apple needs to reduce its over pricing Smart Phone price.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Samsung on top. Not surprising.

Zichi talking about a crappy iPhone. Not surprising.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

So comparing subsidized phone (iPhone 5, cause you can't even get an unlocked version in Japan) price to a completely unlocked, non-contract phone price (Galaxy S3). Ya...seems like a fair way to go about things.

Wonder how much that iPhone costs after all the subsidy is paid off. Probably ¥150,000

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I bet a Chinese company will become the top smartphone maker by 2015.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Samsung Galaxy S3 smart phone needs a two year data contract to use it.

true, but if you already have one those contracts, drop your SIM card from that existing contract into new handset you bought elsewhere like yahoo auctions at wholesale prices and you're done. Keep using your old contract with new handset. It's what i am doing right now, with a nexus.

KDDI au/Softbank also offering free iPad mini/iPad with retina display (iPad 4) with two year data contract.

4800yen a month times 2 years - 115,000 yen. and you are probably also paying for you AU iphone 5 and it's data plan and if you have a hikari connection at home, that soon adds up...to a lot on telecommunications every month.

Better plan - buy a mobile LTE wi-fi router that will service your iphone 5, your laptop, ipod and whatever else AND then buy a ipad outright for 40,000yen.

The 2 year "free ipad" deal only makes any sense if that is your one and only device, you don't also have a keitai to supplement and use only a voip like skype for all calls.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

AU's S3 is around ¥30,000 with contract. Definitely not some crazy ¥72,000 yen. That's unlocked phone prices, from a carrier.

And no, zero iPhones in Japan are unlocked. Not Softbank, not AU, not Apple Japan (unless they changed that in the past like 2 months, which I highly doubt they have). Others are just buying an iPhone 5 from Hong Kong and using a Docomo Xi sim.

I'd much rather buy an unlocked phone, than pay extra over the course of 2 years, making your phone more expensive.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I don't see how a non-smartphone SIM, won't work in a smartphone. Unless it's one of those mini-SIMs and that's nothing more than cutting off the extra plastic to make it the size of a micro-SIM or nano-SIM.

1st Gen SIM (SIM) = size of a credit card 2nd Gen SIM (mini-SIM) = much smaller than the credit card size (normally come as the credit card size, so you can use with old devices or break it out and use in more modern devices) 3rd Gen SIM (micro-SIM) = a little smaller than mini 4th Gen SIM (nano-SIM) = pretty much zero extra plastic. Just the metal contact points left.

You can cut regular SIM down to a nano-SIM and use it without problems.

I also don't get the pricing with AU. New contract costs less than someone with preexisting contract. Is the new contract worse than the existing one? Like less bandwith or something? Makes no sense. Me personally, I enjoyed my time with Docomo and I'd stick with them. Course, all I have right now is a crappy Softbank phone. I don't use that phone anymore, I just pulled the SIM and use it in my LG phone.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I agree that Apple needs to reduce its pricing. An iPhone in Brazil costs U$1,500 - the most expensive in the world. But people don't care about that, all companies that sold iPhone 5 had their stocks sold out in the day of the launch, 12/14.

But I don't see why Apple sees the need to lower its prices, if people are willing to pay astronomic ammounts for an iDevice. Well, I am, and everybody I know that has an earlier version of iPhones. We all will buy #5 or #6 in 2013. Besides, being the Top One doesn't mean good news necessarily. I see Samsung devices with people without money - the exception is the SIII. And Samsung has more than 15 models, some are given for free. Samsung is popular, because its devices are cheap.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Korlacan Khanthavilay, phones in Japan are not only locked to the carrier, but they are also locked to a particular type of SIM. iPhones will only accept iPhone SIMs, Androids will only accept Android SIMs, and galapagos keitais only accept galapagos keitai sims. Its not about the SIM size, its an extra coding or something which restricts it.

I travel overseas a few times a year and i think the phone locking is absolutely ridiculous here. Its not because the phones are subsidised anymore; you get your subsidies back only if you stay on the contract for 2 years and a month. You are still paying the full price of the phone. And the phones here are still more expensive than overseas.

I was about to buy the HTC J Butterfly on au yesterday until they explained that it was locked with no possibility for unlock (regardless of whether i buy outright)

Docomo is the ONLY company that lets you unlock their phones, and therefore get cheap local SIM cards when you travel overseas (the iPad on Softbank is supposed to be unlocked for non-japanese SIMs though).

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Samsung is top-dog overseas these days, but it just feels... cheap. I am hoping for a resurgence by HTC; their phones feel seriously good, and they have some awesome tech behind them.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

A SIM is a SIM is a SIM. There is no such thing as an iPhone SIM, Android SIM, or anything SIM. They are all the same. The way the carriers are restricting access is via the Phone's IMEI number. Not like the states, where the IMEI number does a whole lot of nothing.

Docomo filters through IMEIs on their normal 3G networks, but doesn't with their Xi LTE networks.

Softbank doesn't seem to care. They don't filter anything. Just connect to the right network or you'll get raped in price.

AU...I have no idea WTF they do. They're CDMA, GSM, and LTE.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Korlacan KhanthavilayDec. 21, 2012 - 04:19PM JST

A SIM is a SIM is a SIM. There is no such thing as an iPhone SIM, Android SIM, or anything SIM. They are all the same.

Yup, and other than nanoSIM, there's no difference between microSIM and miniSIM, just take a pair of wire clippers and you'll have a perfect fit in a minute! (most modern SIM chips can be made into nanoSIM the same way with some filing down on the back, but varies by company)

And while there's no such thing and a specific phone SIM (other than embedded ones, but that's different), there are such thing as carrier SIMs, and why people (like originalusername) mistakenly think it's their SIM not working with the phone rather than the phone ignoring their SIM because it has a different carrier code or other lock flag. Simply rooting your phone and unlocking can remove the restrictions, and all SIMs will work just fine.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Probably most times, it's just the phone is locked and doesn't work with a different carrier's sim. Now Docomo crazy locks down their phone. I had to use a sticker with random copper wires to bypass their phones locks, so I could use a TKS SIM with my old Docomo F905i.

I bet Docomo would make a killing selling unlocked prepaid phones in the US. Like those cheap Virgin, Samsung, Vodaphone, etc prepaid in the states. I mean, their phones just look better. Just take out most of the extra features and make it a dumb phone, instead of a fully featured phone.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I went into the AU store to look at the iPad mini and snorted with laughter because, like Softbank, they lock their units to their service. Um, what is the point of an excellent device that lets me go all over the world and toss in any sim I like if you take that feature away from me? My AT&T iPad mini from the U.S. arrives any day now.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

http://news.yahoo.com/windows-already-threatening-iphone-southern-europe-183140302.html

Looks like nokia's fall isn't so much demand as supply!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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