Sales of SIM-free smartphones totaled 1.705 million units in Japan in fiscal 2015 (from April 2015 to March 2016) with Taiwan-based Asustek Computer being the top vendor in the segment with a 35.7% share, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report, citing data from Japan-based MM Research Institute.

Sales of handsets dropped 5.6% on year to 36.585 million units in Japan in fiscal 2015, during which smartphone shipments increased 2.9% on year to 29.165 million units, while feature phone shipments declined 28.7% to 7.42 million units, said the paper.

Apple saw its shipments in Japan's smartphone market dip 1.3% on year to 15.317 million units in fiscal 2015, but still took the top vendor ranking in the segment with a 52.5% share. Sony Mobile Communications took second place with a 16.7% share, followed by Sharp, Fujitsu and Kyocera.

Japan-based Plus One Marketing was the second largest vendor in the SIM-free smartphone segment with a 16% share, and Huawei was in third position with an 11.3%, added the paper.