[preemrust]

Large Japanese cities have busy Apple stores too. Besides one to one consultation, they run regular lectures on iPhone and iPad productivity. I think people feel happy being Apple customers. My wife is Japanese and she like Apple's FaceTime more than the Google equivalent because it does not force her to join a social network. Many Japanese are not too keen on creating accounts on networks. I travel a fair bit in Asia and I see slivers of same trend. As people in India, China and Indonesia etc. get busier they will move towards products that are perceived to be simpler and less distracting.

[akg_67]

Actually, during recent visit just a few weeks ago, I was surprised to find Apple Store in Sendai and it was busy (in Tokyo, I wouldn't be that surprised me).

The main difference with phones I noticed between the visit this time and last year was the popularity of touch phones versus flip phones. A year ago most phones in subways, I noticed, were flip phones. This year not so much. Definitely lot of iPhones and Sony xperia.