I seem to recall that when I first visited Japan in 2003 and attended a concert, loads of people were attempting to surreptitiously take photos with their mobiles. I don't know what their comparative quality was, but they definitely had cameras on their phones in 2003.

Oh, and flip-phones have been all the rage for as long as I've been going there. I look forward to going back to see if iPhone form factors are gaining popularity yet. You can't swing a dead cat in the US without hitting an iPhone or iPhone knock-off.