IPod is beating Walkman on its own turf -- Japan

[Mac Reporter]

Modbee.com reports
By YURI KAGEYAMA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TOKYO -- 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," said 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."

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