Apple is no. 1 in Japan

Apple is now number one  on annual handset market share in Japan according to a report by Counterpoint Research.

Taking the crown from Sharp, it acquired 16% market share in Q4 of last year and has top the handset market since November. Traditional players Sharp and Fujitsu are left with 14% each. 

The move of mobile phone operators Softbank and KDDI to promote iPhone 5 in the Japanese market in 2012 to compete with DoCoMo is said to have catalyzed the growth. It brought smartphone wars among operators and consumers and introduced or opened opportunities for foreign brands to increase their sales. 

Samsung and LG now has  50% of the Japanese handset market. So as we can see Japan is becoming more technologically penetrated and it said to be due to the introduction and prevalence of smartphones.

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