A new report in the Wall Street Journal highlights how Apple has been experiencing rapid market growth in Japan over the past two years, outpacing both the U.S., Greater China, and the rest of Asia. Although Japan hasn’t traditionally been a growth market for most foreign companies, the iPhone has bolstered Apple’s success in the area, thanks to marketing and subsidies from local telephone companies, becoming Japan’s best-selling smartphone with a 37% market share.
Japan’s largest wireless carrier, NTT DoCoMo, began selling the iPhone for the first time in late September, providing another boost to sales and offering aggressive discounts that prompted Japan’s second- and third-largest carriers follow suit; all three companies are now offering the standard iPhone 5s to customers at no upfront cost. [via 9to5Mac]