Apple Loses Ground in Japanese Mobile Phone Market

Japanese mobile phone shipments experienced nearly flat growth of 0.9% to 7.17 million units in the second quarter of 2018.

According to a report from Tokyo research firm IDC Japan, although Apple maintained its top position in terms of market share by manufacturer with 34.0%, its share dropped significantly from 48.8% in the first quarter. Sharp was in second place with 14.8%, which, in addition to its main models, included cheaper SIM free models like the AQUOS Sense Plus. Sony was at 12.0%, Kyocera 8.7%, and Fujitsu 8.6%.

Sharp’s market share dropped to 6.6% in the second quarter of 2017, when it lagged in fifth place, but then swiftly recovered in the first and second quarters of 2018 to surpass Sony in second place.

Traditional cell phones, like flip phones, shipped only 115,000 units, all of which were models with limited functionality aimed at children.

Shipments for all of 2017 increased by 4.6% from the previous year to 34.09 million units which was the second consecutive year of growth. Of the 34.09 million units, 98.1% (33.43 million) were smartphones.