DoCoMo, Softbank vie for iPhone contract in Japan

Apple's hardball tactics on revenue sharing seem to be a sticking point with both companies, although moving into the market is extremely important for the iPhone's success.

With 100 million cellular phone customers and the Japanese consumer's penchant for high-end and feature-heavy phones, Japan is a key market for the iPhone to break into.

However, at the same time, operators DoCoMo -- #1 in the market with more than half of cellular subscribers -- and third largest carrier Softbank have both expressed concerns with Apple's request for revenue sharing.

Complaints like this from carriers are nothing new. In France, Apple and Orange had some public disagreements in the press over that exact issue, and several other carriers that were said to be in talks with the company have also cited Apple's revenue demands as a reason for passing on carriage of the device.

In China, both China Mobile and China Unicom have been said to have called off negotiations due to revenue sharing disputes. With Apple running into trouble finding carriers in some markets, it does call into question the company's goal of shipping 10 million phones by the end of 2008.

An estimated 1.4 million phones had sold by the end of September, however the company has stayed mum on updated numbers that include its new markets in Europe.

Sources have told Reuters and the Wall Street Journal that Apple is asking for a 10 percent cut of all data revenues. Talks are said to not be going smoothly with DoCoMo, and the exact status of discussions with Softbank is not clearly known.

Despite the issues Apple is experiencing with finding a partner in Japan, the company is still confident that it will be able to find a partner in the country eventually.