If Your Mobile Telephone Was Dirty,

would you consider washing it under a running tap or taking it into the shower with you?

I guess most of us in the west would say no, only recently have we started to catch up with Japan where for over 10 years most mobile telephones have been shower or water proof, even companies like LG or Samsung, which don’t generally make waterproof phones for the global market, had to adapt in order to become competitive in Japan, “In Japan, being waterproof is far more important than being able to remove your phone’s battery,” said Ken Hong, LG’s global communications director, “In Japan, you can’t sell a phone if it’s not waterproof, about 90 to 95 percent of all phones sold now are already waterproof,” Panasonic executive Taro Itakura said way back in 2012. “Why? This is very unique — young Japanese women prefer to use their cellphones even when taking their showers, cellphones have become ‘must products’.” “The mobile phone is with us 24 hours a day, it accompanies us to the bathroom, to the shower, or under the rain. So it is a necessity for the phone to be robust,” Nobuo Ohtani, Fujitsu corporate senior vice president, told AFP, so hopefully in the west as we appear to be 10 years or so behind we will soon catch up with Japan and all mobile telephones will be waterproof!