Clearly, the best selling phone in Japan is still the iPhone, and users here have a strong affinity for Apple.

Apple's iPhone remains the best seller in Japan's smartphone shipments for the fourth quarter and the entire 2022 calendar year, ahead of rivals such as Samsung and SONY, according to an IDC report.

The total number of smartphones sold in Japan through 2022 was 34.3 million, down 8.1 percent from the previous year. Apple led the pack with 16.6 million units or 48.4 percent, down 3.8 percent from its record-breaking 2021 shipment.

In the fourth quarter, 8.5 million smartphones were shipped in Japan, down 16 percent. Apple sold 51.2 percent of the devices, or 4.4 million units, followed by Android with 4.1 million.

The report attributed Apple's continued success to carriers aggressively promoting their smartphones in promotions, and the decline in iPhone sales in the quarter was attributed to a weaker yen, global inflation, and the end of iPhone sales at retailers.

The report also points out that Apple remains dominant in Japan, and Android has no way to compete with it.