onlineparasite comments

Scrote: I think it is has to do with accounting purposes, there are some specific rules to follow when calculating profit (combining overseas and demostic) in domestic currency. Not really sure about the details..

kokuryu: It will probably eventually become mainstream. Mainly because there is no direct competitor in the short-run..

In the US specifically, cable tv is probably more spread and mabye many people lost interest in buying a specific movie on a disc, put it in a player and watch it. It might be as well easier to simply record it (not that digital recorder are not common in Japan), but DVD (buying and rental is very popular in Japan).

It is sort of a habit, example, buying music on phone is a Japan thing, and could be pretty hard to popularize abroad.

DeepAir65 :

You might have a point that they did not publicize the CO2 produced during manufacture or that they did not include it in the above figures, but in my opinion those can be considered as fixed costs and are negligible in the long run.

Hmm interesting argument about McDonald's coffee.

But the thing is, I am sure MC does not have strategic locations as widely spread as Starbucks, especially when it comes to business districts/bldgs, which are probably the main source of customers for Starbucks? Not sure..