Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) topped Japan’s SIM card-free cellphone market last year with a 28.6 percent share, helped by the company’s ZenFone smartphone series, according to Tokyo-based market research firm BCN Inc.
In the unlocked cellphone market in Japan, China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) took the second-largest market share with 23.8 percent, followed by the 15.9 percent of South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, BCN statistics released on Friday showed.
Wireless carriers in Japan lifted network restrictions on their subscribers in May last year. Due to the new measure, smartphones and tablets can be sold in that country with unlocked SIM cards at the customer’s request and at no extra cost.
This allows subscribers on two-year contracts to sign up for alternative plans if they wish.
In January each year, BCN publicizes a list of the businesses with the largest market shares in the Japanese market for a variety of electronic products.
It is the first time the market research company has published data on SIM card-free smartphones.
BCN attributed Asustek’s success in grabbing the largest share of the unlocked telephone market to the company’s launch of a series of ZenFone products — including the ZenFone 2 Laser and the ZenFone Selfie.
On Monday last week, Asustek released the ZenFone Zoom — the world’s thinnest 3x optical-zoom smartphone — in Japan, with sales expected to begin on Friday, the company said.
BCN data did not detail the quantity of SIM card-free mobile phones sold last year.
However, according to statistics released on Jan. 14 by another Japanese market research firm, MM Research Institute, 668,000 of unlocked handsets were sold between April and September last year.
MM Research estimated that over the six-month period ending next month, sales are set to increase to 1.35 million units, representing 4.7 percent of all smartphone sales in Japan.
It also forecast that the SIM card-free cellphone sales in Japan would surge to 3.81 million units in 2018.
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