There are no official statistics available as how well the iPhone sells after Apple started offering it in the Japanese market in July last year. Now Softbank Mobile, one of Asia’s biggest tech companies and the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in Japan, thinks sales need a boost and decided to give away the hardware basically for free [JP].

Following a price cut in August last year, SoftBank will launch a special iPhone campaign on Friday that runs through the end of May. New subscribers signing up for a two-year contract will be able to get a 8GB iPhone for free (the old price in Japan was $235). The The 16GB model will be discounted to $118 from $350.

In addition, SoftBank Mobile’s data plan is being discounted from $62 to $45.60 per month for existing and new subscribers.