IPod Music Player Winning Over Japan Fans
August 19, 2004 | Levent OZLER
When Sony Corp. President Kunitake Ando showed off the new Walkman meant to counter the assault by Apple's iPod portable music player, he held the prized gadget at the gala event upside down.
That may have been a bad omen.
The iPod is proving a colossal hit on the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant's own turf. The tiny white machine is catching on as a fashion statement and turning into a cultural icon in Japan, much the same way it won a fanatic following in the United States.
Apple Computer Inc. has launched a marketing campaign in Japan with catchy TV ads and billboards painted on Tokyo trains. It opened its first Apple store in Tokyo's glitzy Ginza late last year and is opening another in the city of Osaka this month.
"I only want something I can believe in," says 21-year-old design-school student Hiroyuki Sakurai, who was all smiles after buying an iPod recently at the bustling Apple store. "It's a question of sensibility."
When the colorful and smaller iPod mini went on sale in July, more than 1,000 people waited for the store to open. The waiting list for minis is now several weeks' long.
Although Apple doesn't release regional sales figures, six of the top eight selling music players in Japan are iPod models, according to Gfk Japan, a market research company.
Its white earbuds are so well-
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