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The story
In a freewheeling 5ch chat thread, smartphone choices among teens and twentysomethings became the topic of the day. A comment saying “huh, AQUOS is actually popular” kicked off a wide-ranging discussion covering iPhone’s dominance, where Galaxy, Pixel, and Xperia each stand, and even foldable-phone stock shortages. The liveliest debate was over pricing — posters were stunned that the supposedly budget-friendly AQUOS now runs 60,000 yen, and frustration ran high over the Xperia 10’s high price relative to its specs. Some even took jabs at the type of person who picks AQUOS, highlighting just how different the image of each brand really is.
What people said
Can't wait for Duo preorders to open
the number of iPhone owners comes out tiny
Pixel's marketing was sharp too, but man, poor Galaxy
Where'd you even pull that stat from?
This is more than enough phone for me.
2chMate 0.8.10.241/samsung/SM-S938Q/16/LR
but Galaxy genuinely feels like it stopped selling entirely.
AQUOS and Pixel do that same limited-release thing too, so I guess that's just how it goes
2chMate 0.8.10.241/KYOCERA/KYG06/16/LR
Guess they've got plenty in stock?
You get those offers if you've bought that brand before.
I got an Xperia loyalty offer myself the other day
half of all Japanese people carry an iPhone,
so of course you don't see other brands as much
Most guys use Android though
I don't want to get caught up in that
I doubt hardly anyone can actually tell the 16 apart from the 17
Shoes: Mizuno
Car: Nissan
That's me.
Got a problem with it?
Nothing wrong with that.
I don't stick to one shoe brand myself — I wear Asics, Mizuno, and Nike all
If the shoes were Dunlop, that would've been a perfect score
Can't you at least say the one packing a Snapdragon 8 is the better phone?
No no, the Xperia 10 that just came out has even worse specs and costs 110,000 yen — that price is downright insulting.
I'd hesitate even at 50,000 yen for those specs.
At that price they should at least put a Snapdragon 7 in it
Its only real draw is the software updates
Being easy to flash custom ROMs onto is another draw.
It's also hard to brick
(´Д`) …gross
Even young women use them, grandpa — and yes, I'm calling you a Momoiro Clover Z otaku.
I never used them myself since I never know how they'll show up on the other end
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Japan’s smartphone market has long been dominated by iPhone, its presence strong enough that one poster in the thread claimed “half of all Japanese people carry an iPhone.” AQUOS, meanwhile, still enjoys solid support — partly thanks to its image as a domestic Japanese brand — and its heavy presence on the secondhand market also became a talking point. Where opinions split this time was over pricing: posters repeatedly pointed out that supposedly budget-tier models are actually creeping into the tens of thousands of yen, and voiced frustration over new releases priced well above what their specs justify. It’s also clear that models like Galaxy and Xperia, which limit their sales volume, are chosen for entirely different reasons than something like Pixel, which draws fans mainly for how easy it is to install custom ROMs on it. Rather than a simple matter of ‘popular vs. unpopular,’ it’s the differences in pricing strategy and brand image shaping people’s phone choices that don’t come through in the headline alone.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Teens’ and 20-somethings’ phone choices are getting ridiculous.”
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