For Apple, Next Stop Japan

Analysts from Piper Jaffray and American Technology Research published reports on Monday, saying that issues surrounding battery life would hinder Apple from launching a 3G iPhone until the latter half of next year.

Despite the slower network speed, Apple's cachet carried the iPhone to robust sales in the months following its June debut in the U.S. Consumers bought 270,000 phones in the first 30 hours that it was available, and another 1.1 million during the past quarter.

iPhones contributed just 2% of Apple's total revenue in the last quarter because Apple amortizes each iPhone sale over a two-year period. Those sales came entirely in the U.S. Apple launched the iPod in the U.K., France and Germany in November.

In all four countries where the iPhone is available, consumers lined up outside of stores for hours -- and in some cases, days -- before of the product launch waiting to be one of the first to own the iPhone. Within hours of store openings, bloggers posted photos of eager shoppers making their purchase.

Apple is clearly hoping that the same behavior plays out in Japan, where the company's presence is still very small. Sales in Japan shrank 11% in the last fiscal year and accounted for just 4.5% of Apple's total revenue.