Apple Goes After Japanese Market With New Tokyo Outlet

Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) international expansion is slated to continue with a new retail presence in Tokyo, Japan.The Mac maker has not opened a store in Tokyo since 2005. According to Bloomberg, the lengthy hiatus will come to an end in March 2014.This news comes after a report claimed that NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) -- the largest cellular carrier in Japan -- might begin to offer the iPhone.The timing is essential for Apple, which is only a few weeks away from releasing at least one new iPhone. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant is expected to unveil two smartphones during an event on September 10. One is believed be the high-end successor to the iPhone 5, while the other is expected to be a low-cost iPhone.Despite the ongoing rumors, some experts have expressed doubt about Apple's ability to deliver a cheaper product.Related: Is Apple's iPhone Finally Coming To China Mobile?"I think the iPhone 5C -- or whatever they want to call it -- will probably be around 3X [that amount] -- $300 to $400," ABG Sundal Collier analyst Per Lindberg told Benzinga. "The last thing Apple can afford is to degrade its premium pricing status."Whatever Apple chooses to release, Trip Chowdhry, the Managing Director of Equity Research at Global Equities Research, said that this will be Apple's most successful launch yet."The new iPhones will be massively successful," Chowdhry told Benzinga earlier this month. "This will be the most successful product launch ever in the history of Apple."If Apple releases a lower-cost iPhone alongside the presumably-titled iPhone 5S, it will mark a new path in the company's corporate strategy.Thus far, Apple has chosen to stick with one new product at a time. Though the company ventured outside of this path when it released the fourth-generation iPad alongside the iPad Mini, this was not a guarantee that Apple would do the same for the iPhone.There was a time when some analysts, such as Morgan Stanley's Katy L. Huberty, thought that Apple was developing an iPhone Mini. Over the spring and summer months, those rumors transitioned to a low-cost iPhone that is expected to resemble the iPhone 5.Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ