Good Morning Silicon Valley

With the major European launches of the iPhone out of the way, Apple is reportedly working on introducing its icon in the one market where it might look a little behind the times — Japan. According to the Wall Street Journal and others, Apple has been talking to both DoCoMo, Japan’s top carrier, and Softbank, now running third, about the usual exclusive iPhone deal with the usual hard-to-swallow revenue-sharing terms. Consensus on the street is that Apple’s eye is really on DoCoMo, since its larger user base would enable quicker uptake, and that the Softbank talks are for leverage. DoCoMo President Masao Nakamura reportedly had a face-to-face with Steve Jobs in San Francisco earlier this month, but managed to resist the Reality Distortion Field and hold firm, at least for the moment. “The negotiations are not going smoothly, as Apple’s conditions are extremely hard to meet,” a DoCoMo source told Reuters. “The ball is in Apple’s court right now.”

But even if a deal were already in place, Japan would still need to wait until at least until the middle of next year for its iPhone. The current model runs on a GSM/EDGE network, and isn’t compatible with the contending Japanese carriers; the 3G iPhone will be.