Reports Signal iPhone’s Imminent Arrival at Japan’s NTT DoCoMo

Looks like Apple’s decision to hold a satellite iPhone launch event in Tokyo next week isn’t just a nod to the importance of the Japanese market, but to a deal with a major new carrier as well. In dueling reports published Thursday, the Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun both claimed that NTT DoCoMo — Japan’s largest wireless carrier, with 60 million customers — will begin selling the iPhone this fall, putting it on equal footing with SoftBank and KDDI, which already offer the device. Reports of the deal come amid renewed speculation that Apple is also poised to bring the iPhone to China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in the world.