Now tell me. Could you find out on Android presence there? I'm wondering if any manufacturer even has a phone with the OS on it.

From my understanding, its rare for an american company to make any impact in Japan. Apple accomplished the complete reverse of how things normally are since the Japanese influences the west 99% of the time. I'm still waiting for phones to have some of the features the Japanese have, like cell phone cameras that can do quality live streaming of video, as seen in Fast and the Furious Toyko Drift. Those phones exists, but the US never got them. I wonder if our cell networks suck compared to whats available there? are they running like 5G networks. lol

Well the smaller space of Japan and the large population density probably has a lot to do with it. Thats why Australia for example has terrible internet, we've got almost as much space as the US but only 22 million people.

I'm not sure how that affects mobile networks but its surely more ecenomically viable in a small country with lots of people within it.

Judging by the Smartphones I saw at an exhibition in London showcasing Japanese technology more than 5 years ago, I would think the iphone is a the lower end of smartphone technology.

Isn't there a VGChartz member who lives in Japan that can shed more light on the Japanese smartphone market?

This "American company Apple can succeed in Japan" article is dumb anyway, as phones are mainly japanese made in the japanese market, which is very different from the worldwide market, where, even if the mobile phones aren't made by japanese companies, 80-90 % of their components come from Japan anyway.
Sth like 80 % of any iPod/iPhone product comes from Japan. So this is a silly debate.

And the OP article is clearly spin, like almost every Apple related article. They've done this kind of spin since 2005 at least, copying the MS spin for their Windows Mobile "market" (lol).
This is not new spin tactics, get used to it if you see articles about mobile markets.

Also, it's stupid to compare the iPhone which is relatively new and didn't sell a lot in Japan, to a device like the DS that is 5 years old and sold more than 30 millions units in Japan.

Not Japan, China makes everything. The iPod and iPhone are made in China as are most electronics.

Apple has gotten FAT off ipods and iphones,...that's all that matters. Others are trying to play catch-up, like WinMo 7 and Android, but it's going to be tough. I don't think Apple is going to rest on their laurels like Sony did with consoles, but we will see what kind of reception WinMo7 receives this fall. The same thing goes for the HP Slate and other tablets...Apple jumped the market, and HP Slate is going to have to offer some serious benefits over the gzallion apps for "i" brands.