DoCoMo blames lack of iPhone supply for record subscriber loss
Just a few weeks ago, NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile carrier, began carrying the iPhone for the first time. Concurrently, DoCoMo this September lost a record number of subscribers to other carriers, 66,800 to be precise. Meanwhile, rival carriers like SoftBank and KDDI added 270,700 and 232,700 new users, respectively.
Oddly enough, DoCoMo attributed its subscriber churn to Apple's inability to keep its store shelves stocked with iPhones.
DoCoMo attributed the subscriber loss to customers who delayed purchases until after Apple's new mobiles went on sale Sept. 20 and insufficient stock of those handsets, said Atsuko Suzuki, a company spokeswoman. Rival carriers' marketing strategies also hurt sales, she said.
Of course, seeing as Apple's new iPhones didn't launch until September 20, it seems like a stretch to attribute DoCoMo's recent subscriber exodus to iPhone supply problems.
