A survey of 2300 retail stores reveals that Apple has cleaned up in the smartphone market in Japan, TG Daily reports. Market research company BCN revealed that the iPhone 3G 8GB is easily heading the list, followed by the 16GB iPhone and the NTT CoCoMo Aquos SH-04A.

Is the ranking reliable? “Yes,” Akky Akimoto of Asiajin from Japan answered. “The shops which give their POS (point of sale) data to BCN include some nationwide chain stores, such like Eiden, K’s Denki, Bic Camera, Best Denki and, you may know this company name, Amazon Japan.” The writer also points out us with the ranking’s Japanese page (update: this is another ranking –the weekly ranking).

Released in July last year, Apple’s iPhone 3G has been sold over a million in Japan since then. The survey was conducted before the launch of the iPhone 3GS by Softbank, the country’s third largest wireless carrier, on June 26.

Akimoto also wrote:

The new iPhone 3GS started to be sold in Japan on June 26th. For your information, interestingly, the iPhone 3GS (32GB) and (16GB) seemed to be ranked at No. 174 and No. 189 on last week’s ranking, even before its release date.

The old version iPhone 3G 16GB is ranked at No. 27 down a bit from No. 23 last week, which is also interesting. Who buys the old one when the new one is coming and your payment will not differ?

[TG Daily via Fortune | image credit]