BusinessWeek’s Ian Rowley is drooling over Japanese handsets Here – and who could blame him? However, his reasoning as to why these pocket rockets “seldom make it overseas” is just a bit off. “Most of the world won’t get the chance to buy these handsets. Japan’s superphones seldom make it overseas. One reason: Many phone users would be unwilling to pay as much as Japanese do for their monthly bills – $60 on average. Before long, though, much of the new technology, if not the same handsets, will likely find its way out of Japan.”
A more obvious challenge than ARPU would be carry support for pricing, of not only the handset but also the data plans, to their customers. It does not seem too difficult to imagine that users outside Japan will pay $60 per month for their phones – provided they get real value to match the cost.
There are already many examples of Japanese handsets making their way into global markets, and no doubt some of these will as well.
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