4 ms·

"World's second largest economy discovered to contain money" is at least better than "Japan will never use the iPhone because they're inscrutable nationalists."

by patio11 13y ago

"World's second largest economy discovered to contain money" is at least better than "Japan will never use the iPhone because they're inscrutable nationalists." (Take note, anyone who thinks "Samsung is Korean. Have you heard about Japan and Korea?" is sage commentary.) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=497069 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=497069

rurounijones 13y ago
Addendum to your statement "Worlds second largest economy with a super fashion (younger)/status (older) obsessed population buys from company known to be high-end and fashionable."
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  Not to mention Japanese handsets suck when it comes to software, and Android is too Korean/Chinese.
  - rurounijones 13y ago
    Japanese handsets' software does indeed suck however Android dominates the Smartphone market (As per above article) and Samsung has good share of android sales[1] so I think the "anti-korean" thing is being blown out of proportion. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6716190 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6716190
- threeseed 13y ago
  Don't forget that Apple has had a pretty stunning retail store in Ginza for nearly a decade now alongside LV, Prada, Chanel etc. http://www.apple.com/jp/retail/ginza/ http://www.apple.com/jp/retail/ginza/
  - mbesto 13y ago
    And now have Angela Ahrendts (former Burberry CEO) at the helm of retail. Very smart move.
beachstartup 13y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomin... japan is no longer the 2nd largest economy. it's china. (or the US, depending on how you measure such things).
donw 13y ago
I've been saying this for years. Everybody focuses on China because it's such a large market, that they miss the fact that doing business in China is a legal nightmare. The court system is basically set up to screw foreign companies, partially because the Chinese do have a history of getting really screwed over by foreign companies. Japan doesn't have the same pile of overnight millionaires, but they do have a dependable court system, people are used to paying high prices for things, the consumer is very friendly to foreign goods, and there are relatively few trade barriers -- especially after the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) goes through. It's not a bad place to sell things.

by patio11 13y ago

rurounijones 13y ago

Addendum to your statement "Worlds second largest economy with a super fashion (younger)/status (older) obsessed population buys from company known to be high-end and fashionable."

seanmcdirmid 13y ago
Not to mention Japanese handsets suck when it comes to software, and Android is too Korean/Chinese.
- rurounijones 13y ago
  Japanese handsets' software does indeed suck however Android dominates the Smartphone market (As per above article) and Samsung has good share of android sales[1] so I think the "anti-korean" thing is being blown out of proportion. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6716190 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6716190
threeseed 13y ago
Don't forget that Apple has had a pretty stunning retail store in Ginza for nearly a decade now alongside LV, Prada, Chanel etc. http://www.apple.com/jp/retail/ginza/ http://www.apple.com/jp/retail/ginza/
- mbesto 13y ago
  And now have Angela Ahrendts (former Burberry CEO) at the helm of retail. Very smart move.

beachstartup 13y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomin... japan is no longer the 2nd largest economy. it's china. (or the US, depending on how you measure such things).

donw 13y ago

I've been saying this for years. Everybody focuses on China because it's such a large market, that they miss the fact that doing business in China is a legal nightmare. The court system is basically set up to screw foreign companies, partially because the Chinese do have a history of getting really screwed over by foreign companies. Japan doesn't have the same pile of overnight millionaires, but they do have a dependable court system, people are used to paying high prices for things, the consumer is very friendly to foreign goods, and there are relatively few trade barriers -- especially after the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) goes through. It's not a bad place to sell things.