Back in April we reported that according to recent numbers offered by Kantar, it seems as though there is slight growth in Japan for Windows Phone. Granted the growth did not even break 1%, it was still interesting to see a jump from 0.3% to 0.9%, suggesting that there could be minute interest in the Windows Phone platform over in the country.
Unfortunately it looks like Japanese carrier, KDDI, will not be doing their part in helping the Windows Phone platform grow in the country, as they have recently announced that the carrier has no plans whatsoever to launch new Windows Phone handsets in 2014.
What this means is that if you wanted a Windows Phone device, you’d either have to get one from another carrier, or by yourself from a handset retailer, or wait until 2015 to try your luck with KDDI again.
In fact the last time KDDI launched a Windows Phone handset was back in 2011 with Toshiba IS12T, a Windows Phone 7 handset which would not have been eligible to upgrade to Windows Phone 8 anyway. Based on this it certainly doesn’t sound like Windows Phone fans in Japan should keep their hopes down as far as KDDI is concerned.
Will Microsoft ever break into the Japanese market with their smartphone platform? We’re sure it’s a market that Microsoft would love to break into, but for now it looks like it’s going to be an uphill battle, especially in the fact of iOS and Android who more or less control the market.
Filed in . Read more about Japan, Kddi, Microsoft and Windows Phone.