Japan is considered a pioneer in the smartphone industry after coming in with a touchscreen phone back in 2004. However, since then, the country has lagged behind the likes of U.S., South Korea, and now China as far as the smartphone industry is concerned.
In a rather non-surprising move, the country’s largest carriers have announced that they will not be offering the latest flagships from Samsung, LG, and HTC for their customers. Well, it is not the first time Samsung’s devices will be missing from the country’s market, however, it is kind of a surprise as far as LG and HTC are concerned.
NTT DoCoMo has listed Sony’s Xperia X Performance, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, a Sharp-made Aquos, Arrows by Fujitsu and another device known as Disney Mobile from an unknown OEM, Softbank has the Xperia X Performance, Kyocera Digno, and a Sharp Aquos phone whereas KDDI Au has listed Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and Sony Xperia X Performance.
So, where is Samsung Galaxy S7, LG G5 and HTC 10? Well, as for the omission of the standard Galaxy S7, it’s not strange given that something similar happened last year, with Samsung Galaxy S6 coming to Japan via NTT DoCoMo whereas all other carriers sold the S6 Edge variant.
As for now, there is no word on whether the standard version will be availed at a later time, but the Japanese market can be sure of getting a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge in the next few days.
As far as the LG G5 is concerned, it was somehow expected, especially given that the last time a G series device hit Japan was back in 2013 with the LG G2. The following years have seen this G moniker replaced with ISAI, a move that saw the LG G4 released in Japan as the ISAI Vivid. As it appears, at least for now, this summer might see the Japanese market go without an LG device.
Perhaps the most surprising omission is the HTC 10. There was an initial leak that pointed towards a KDDI Au release for the 10, however, the company’s listing for the summer doesn’t include this device. NTT DoCoMo has never sold an HTC-made device while Softbank stopped doing so ages ago. Still, there are reports that the HTC 10 might be unveiled to the Japanese market in an event to be held by the Taiwanese company in the coming weeks.
As for Samsung lovers, all you got for this summer is the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, which, according to many reviews, is the better of the two Samsung flagship phones released this year.
Lg G5 is not offered 🙁 🙁 so sad