SEOUL - For Samsung Electronics Co Ltd , the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were going to be its springboard to attain a long-held goal - making significant inroads into Japan's lucrative smartphone market where Apple Inc dominates.
"Samsung was keen to use the Olympics opportunity to get it right in Japan. In that sense, it's a bad situation," a person familiar with Samsung's operations told Reuters, noting that Samsung and other sponsors would have to adjust plans. When asked about the impact of the Olympics postponement on its strategy for the Japan market, Samsung declined to comment, saying only it would continue to provide innovative technology for Japanese customers regardless of when the Games commence.
Apple currently commands 53% of the Japanese market, Sharp Corp has 12% and Sony Corp has 7%, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung, which has lost ground since 2013, has 4%.Indicative of Samsung's struggles was its 2015 decision to drop its name from smartphones sold in Japan and just go with Galaxy branding - the only market where it does so. It's a move some analysts attribute to historical tensions that often flare up between South Korea and its neighbor.
DoCoMo and SoftBank Corp , the domestic telecom arm of SoftBank Group, are currently rolling out 5G services. But the delay of the Games means 5G is not expected to gain momentum until Apple launches a 5G-capable iPhone, analysts said.
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