Sources told Reuters that NTT DoCoMo Inc would begin to sell iPhones in Japan in as early as autumn. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity as the discussions between the two firms were confidential.
An analyst speculated that Apple and NTT DoCoMo might have agreed on a compromise that was beneficial to both firms. Tokyo-based Macquarie Capital Securities Head of Asia Telecommunications Research Nathan Ramler said, "It's possible Apple were more flexible with DoCoMo because obviously it's a large carrier and it's somewhere they could get new unit volumes to come through."
Reuters also reported that Japan's largest mobile carrier had not offered the iPhone earlier to its 60 million subscribers because the two firms could not agree on sales margins and branding. However, this was detrimental to DoCoMo as smaller competitors like Softbank Corp and KDDI Corp had taken bigger market shares among iPhone enthusiasts in Japan. Softbank started offering the iPhone in 2008 while KDDI began to sell the iPhone in 2011.
The iPhone is a bestseller in Japan where Apple currently leads the market. The market share of Apple is three times bigger than Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, its closest rival.
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