WSJ: ‘Apple Finds Surprising Growth Market in Japan’

Why is the word “surprising” in this headline:

Sales got another boost in late September when NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan’s largest wireless carrier, began offering the iPhone for the first time to its 61.8 million customers. Even before that, the iPhone was Japan’s best-selling smartphone, with a 37% market share in the six months ended Sept. 30, according to Tokyo’s MM Research Institute. That’s comparable to the iPhone’s 36% share in the U.S. in the third quarter, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

The iPhone was already the best-selling smartphone in Japan, before it was available on the country’s largest carrier, and somehow it’s “surprising” that Japan is a growth market?

Monday, 11 November 2013