Daniel Slotta
Research expert covering Greater China
Smartphone market in Japan - statistics & facts
Japan is not only one of the largest smartphone markets in the world but also an early pioneer of mobile phone culture. The first Japanese mobile phone small enough to fit in a pocket was introduced as early as 1991 by NTT Docomo. More features followed, such as e-mail capabilities in 1999, 3G networks in 2001, and the world鈥檚 first wallet phone in 2004. Despite widespread acknowledgment and praise, Japanese mobile phones were never fully able to gain a foothold in overseas markets. Instead, the industry turned excessively inwards, a tendency that has been called 鈥淕al谩pagos syndrome鈥 due to the high specialization achieved by focusing on a single market. However, the rapid domestic dissemination of mobile phones at the turn of the millennium also meant that Japanese phone makers, such as Fujitsu and Panasonic, had little reason to venture into overseas markets.
