Japan

Apple has announced that its HomePod speaker will be available to order in Japan and Taiwan later this summer. The speaker has had a slow worldwide rollout since launching in February 2018, with availability currently limited to the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, China, and Hong Kong. In April, Apple lowered the price of the HomePod from...

Apple has launched its annual Back to School promotion in Japan this week, according to Japanese blog Mac Otakara. While the promotion typically offers free Beats headphones in the United States and Europe, the Japanese edition offers students free Apple Store gift cards valued up to ¥18,000 or roughly $165 with the purchase of select Mac and iPad Pro models. Apple is also offering...

Cellular network operator O2 on Friday said its data networks had been restored after millions of smartphones across the UK and Japan were taken offline yesterday (via BBC). A statement on its website said the 4G network was finally working again, after having been affected from about 05:30 GMT on Thursday. Earlier, mobile network equipment supplier Ericsson said that an expired...

Apple plans to discount the price of iPhone XR models in Japan by offering subsidies to Japanese carriers, according to a new report out this morning. The Wall Street Journal said the price decreases on the $750 iPhone models could come as early as next week, citing sources familiar with Apple's sales strategy in the region. "A price cut within a month off the release is rare not just for...

Apple has announced the reopening of its Shibuya retail store in Tokyo on Friday, October 26 – the same day as the launch of iPhone XR – following renovation that began almost a year ago. The Shibuya store opens its doors again on the same date as Apple's Covent Garden retail location in London, although the Japan store has been out of action for significantly longer. During the near 11...

Japan's Fair Trade Commission is investigating allegations that Apple pressured Yahoo Japan into pulling back from its Game Plus platform in the country, reports Nikkei. Yahoo last fall submitted complaints about its Game Plus platform, a web-based service first launched in July 2017. Game Plus is designed to let users play games without needing to download a full app. 52 companies were...

Apple has announced that it will repair any Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, iPod, or Thunderbolt Display directly damaged by heavy rains in Japan in July, free of charge, so long as the product is actually repairable. Affected customers can contact Apple by dialing 0120-27753-5 to arrange for pick up of any eligible products through the end of September, according to a notice on Apple's...

Japan's antitrust watchdog on Wednesday said Apple may have breached antitrust regulations by forcing three major domestic network carriers to sell its iPhones cheaply and charge higher monthly fees (via Reuters). The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said that Apple had forced NTT Docomo, KDDI, and SoftBank to offer subsidies and sell iPhones at a discount. In the eyes of the FTC, this made it...

Apple Maps vehicles equipped with LiDAR sensors have begun collecting street-level data in Japan for the first time this month. Apple will be surveying the Tokyo and Urayasu areas between June and October of this year, according to a new Apple Maps vehicles page created specifically for Japan, first spotted by Japanese blog Mac Otakara. Japan is the 11th country where the vehicles are...

Apple is set to close its last remaining pop-up shop dedicated to Apple Watch next month. Signs displayed at the Tokyo shop, located in Shinjuku's high-end Isetan department store, were shared on Twitter announcing the closure. やっぱり伊勢丹のApple Watch Storeは閉店か… pic.twitter.com/moYjXCfYRp— Shotaro Akiba (@ShotaroAkiba) April 21, 2018 The message reads, "This is a notice that Apple Watch at...

Following authentication processes like thumbprint scanning, facial recognition, and QR code entry, a company in Japan this week has shown off a smartphone-based payment system that uses your unique palm print to confirm transactions (via Nikkei). Japanese credit card company JCB created the system in conjunction with Tokyo company Universal Robots, with a trial run aimed at company employees...

Apple today announced that it is opening an all-new retail store in Downtown Brooklyn next weekend following several months of construction. 300 Ashland The store is located in the new 300 Ashland building in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, with an official address of 123 Flatbush Avenue. The grand opening will occur Saturday, December 2 at 10:00 a.m. local time. The store will...

Apple has announced that component supplier Ibiden has become the first company in Japan to guarantee all of its Apple manufacturing will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy. Ibiden is planning to invest in more than 20 new renewable energy facilities, including one of the largest floating solar photovoltaic systems in the country. "We're proud to partner with suppliers like Ibiden ...

Apple today posted a limited-time promotion on its Japanese site for its "New Life" campaign, which allows customers using certain company-issued credit cards to receive cashback and other benefits on Apple Pay purchases and store rewards. As noted by Japanese blog Ata Distance, the Apple Pay promotion runs between March 1 and April 30 and takes in app purchases and online services including...

Apple today launched its annual "Back to Uni" promotion in Australia and New Zealand, offering students and select other educational employees a $70 to $100 Apple Store gift card with the purchase of a qualifying new Mac or iPad Pro. Apple is offering a A$100 or NZ$105 Apple Store gift card with the purchase of a new Mac, including the iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and...

Starting on January 2, Apple plans to hold a special New Year's Sale both online and at all of its retail locations in Japan, continuing a long tradition of offering something special on January 2 in the country. Up until 2016, Apple took part in the Japanese tradition of offering "Fukubukuro" or "lucky bags" to customers. Fukubukuro used to contain an assortment of random Apple products at a...

Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted that Japan has a big part to play in the company's ongoing development of AI, as he continued his travels around the country via bullet train on Monday. Speaking to Nikkei Asian Review, Cook revealed that Apple's new advanced R&D center in Yokohama, currently scheduled for completion in December, would focus on "deep engineering" and would be "very different" from the ...

While on a trip that's taken him to Shenzhen, China and Nintendo's offices in Kyoto, Japan, Apple CEO Tim Cook today met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussing topics related to the importance of the country in Apple's ongoing market strategy. Specifically, Cook was said to confirm that an advanced R&D center in Yokohama was on track to complete construction by December (via Xinhua). ...

Apple supplier Foxconn Electronics is reportedly gearing up to launch its own line of smartphone devices in Japan, using its recent acquisition of Sharp to help manufacture and distribute the handsets (via DigiTimes). Over the past few years, Foxconn has been a major supplier for Apple device manufacturing, including for the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. The company is said to be ...

Apple has paid some 12 billion yen ($118 million) to Japan after underreporting income in the country, according to broadcaster NHK (via Reuters). The company has yet to comment on the matter. Japanese tax authorities determined that Apple failed to pay withholding taxes on profits it earned from subscribers in Japan and shifted to its Irish subsidiary to pay for software licensing.The Tokyo...