NTT DoCoMo

Japan’s top carrier thinks iPhone is no longer king of the hill

Remember the days of carriers acting like teenagers at a Justin Bieber concert when it came to the iPhone? That all-out adoration of Apple's flagship device is waning - especially in Japan. The country's largest wireless provider sees no hurry in offering the iPhone as Android alternatives grow in popularity.

In a Wall Street Journal interview today, a senior executive vice-president at NTT DoCoMo says things have changed. The question isn't how many customers the iPhone would attract, but how many customer would leave if the Apple device isn't sold...

Apple missing some 2.8 billion potential iPhone customers due to carrier demands

Much talk surrounding Apple has centered on a cooling consumer demand for its flagship product, the iPhone smartphone. However, it may be time to shift the narrative to feet-dragging by a number of global operators that could hold the key to as many as 2.8 billion iPhone customers, according to a Monday report.

Instead of a slowdown in demand, a Monday report by Bloomberg suggests the larger problem is vastly limited access to customers. Two numbers go far to tell the story: 240 and 800. While Apple has 240 carrier agreements throughout the world, rival Samsung has inked deals with virtually every of the 800 wireless providers. Indeed, Apple is lacking agreements to boost sales of the iPhone in some of the most-populated regions, including China, Japan, India and Russia...

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo says it’s willing to negotiate an iPhone deal

As talk continues of an upcoming T-Mobile iPhone deal, and rumors continue to swirl of a China Mobile partnership, a new report today says that the Cupertino company could potentially add another major carrier to its stable: Japan's NTT DoCoMo.

Like China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo is its country's largest wireless provider, and its 60 million subscribers account for nearly half of all Japan mobile users. But last November, it suffered its biggest ever net loss of customers. And it blames the iPhone...