NTT Docomo said that it would be “difficult” for the company to sell Apple’s iPhone due to demands from the vendor conflicting with the operator’s own strategy, Reuters reports.

Apparently Ryuji Yamada, president of Docomo, said that Apple is calling for the device to make up half of its phone sales, contrary to the operator’s strategy of pushing multiple smartphone platforms – it is also currently a strong supporter of Android.

In addition, the inability to tailor the device to support specific Docomo networks is an issue – the company is currently pressing ahead with its LTE rollout, having already signed-up three million subscribers for these services.

Japan’s number three operator, SoftBank, has seen its market share increase in recent years, which has at least partially been attributed to it offering the Apple smartphone in its portfolio.

Number two player KDDI also began offering the iPhone late last year.

According to Bloomberg, Docomo is also working to bolster its leadership in the market by targeting the elderly, which was said to be the country’s fastest-growing demographic.

It has offered a range of devices targeting the elderly, called Raku-Raku, and the report also said the company is now using voice recognition technology to enable users who struggle with keypads to access services.