Mobile coupons are mainstream in Japan

Using mobile coupons to get a discount is a common thing in Japan and a recent user survey by Update/MMD just confirms that. Out of 4,453 survey respondents 71.6% said that they are subscribed to receive flyers with discounts from a particular business. Among those, 43.5% get coupons from 2-4 businesses. The most popular category of businesses distributing mobile coupons is the fast food chains followed with pubs/restaurants/cafes and CD/DVD rental shops. The top three popular shops among respondents turned out to be as follows:

1. McDonald's (78.3%)
2. TSUTAYA (Japan's Blockbuster) (44.5%)
3. KFC (29.3%)

Source: MMD via Keitai Watch

Lack of smartphones make Japanese users wish more

Despite the common believe that Japan market is flooded with advanced smartphones from domestic vendors, it is not exactly so. While some well-known research powerhouses put Japanese vendors into the world's top smartphone rankings just because those vendors' phones are based on local flavors of Symbian or Linux, in Japan they are considered just as regular phones, advanced but still phones. In Japan, the smartphone definition goes beyond just simple notion of phone's operating system and includes other conditions such as a PDA-like form factor with bigger display and full text keyboard or touch screen. Surprisingly, just few models in Japan meet these conditions, making Japan's market the one with the lowest smartphone penetration. Recent study by Impress also found that Japanese users are more familiar with Windows Mobile OS and they expect their next smartphone to run on Windows rather than Apple's OS X or Android OS. This is partially explained by the WM's head start in Japan. Though the users' attitude will undoubtedly change with Android smartphones taking a full assault on Japan's shores this year.

Most Popular Smartphones
Apple	iPhone 3G
Apple	iPhone 3Gs
Sharp	Advanced W-ZERO3 (es)
Sharp	Willcom 03
Sharp	W-ZERO3 (es)
HTC	Touch Diamond (S21HT)
Sharp	W-ZERO3
HTC	EMonster (S11HT)
Toshiba	T-01A
HTC	HT-03A
RIM	Blackberry Bold

Japan is hooked on Tetris

sSecond year in the row Tetris named the most popular game on mobile phone in Japan, according to G-mode's study. Well, at least 1,200 survey respondents chose Tetris as the most addictive game they have ever played. The top 10 list includes some other famous titles as well:

1. Tetris (puzzle)
2. Puyo Puyo (puzzle)
3. Solitaire (board game)
4. Sudoku (puzzle)
5. Osero (board game)
6. Tsuri game (fishing)
7. Zoo keeper (puzzle)
8. Dragon quest (role playing)
9. Millionaire (board game)
10. Hakoniwa (other)

Source: g-mode

Study: iPhone apps usage in Japan

It was reported that Japanese iPhone users mostly use their beloved gadgets for four purposes, with web browsing being the most popular. Web surfing is then followed by Email, iPod and phone calling use cases. Surprisingly, iPhone apps, including games came fifth in this survey of about 300 iPhone users conducted by IMJ Mobile. Nevertheless, 91% of respondents claim to have downloaded an app from iTunes. It's quite obvious that the most popular app category turns out to be games, considering Japanese people's passion for games.

Source: IMJ Mobile

Features aside, Japanese users value design most when buying a smartphone

According to a market research by Impress R&D, 61.8% of respondents look at the design when buying a smartphone. The next thing they check after the design is the price they are going to pay for the device (45.2%). Among other important things are the crispiness of the display (40.9%), form factor (40.1%), responsiveness (39.2%), size of the display (39.2%), etc.

Source: Impress R&D

Handset replacement cycle to get longer in Japan

Market researchers at MM Research Institute in Japan found out that almost half of domestic cell phone users intend keeping their current handset for a little over two years, which will lead to the longer replacement cycle and, therefore, will depress handset manufacturers' sales. On average, only one out of three users will buy a new handset within a year.

Source: MMRI

Blogs and social networks are popular among Japanese mobile phone users

Survey takers at Impress R&D discovered that over 28 percent of respondents in Japan access blogs only from mobile phones. At the same time, over 15 percent of users access social networks using cell phones as their mere tools. 

Source: Impress R&D

Japan's cell phone reality: 398Kbps in download speeds

In reality you can get as much as 398Kbps in average download speed on your cell phone in Japan. This conclusion is made by Impress R&D after they tested about twenty thousand cases. They simply asked users of three national carriers to access a Flash-based site with a speed measuring counter. After they gathered enough data, the average download speed stood at 398Kbps. Assuming the handsets measured were all 3G devices these are meager results. 398Kbps is about what you are supposed to get for uplink (at least with DoCoMo's advertised FOMA HSDPA) while downlink should be in a range of several megabits per second. Well, we all know that in theory it should be perfect...

Source: Impress R&D via Nikkei Trendy

Mobile online banking lags behind PCs in Japan

Online banking was introduced to public in Japan more than a decade ago and therefore it should enjoy a high rate of penetration. This was the idea of Rakuten, a Japanese eBay, when it decided to check the status of online banking in the country by conducting an online survey of 1,000 respondents.  

While the survey found that 68.2% of respondents have experience of online banking using their PC, it was surprising to see how few of them took advantage of mobile banking – only 15.6% used mobile phone to access their bank account. And this is in the country where Internet is accessed more from mobile phones than personal computers! The top three online banking activities on both PC and mobile phone included the following:

• Check account balance and status of withdrawals and deposits
• Make a money transfer to another account
• Make a payment for purchases made via online shopping or Internet auction

Source: Rakuten via Bizmakoto.jp

Consumers in Japan are OK with phones’ design but demand more functionality

Another market research firm iShare conducted an online survey of 476 respondents to find out about their level of satisfaction with current mobile phones. Interestingly, more end-users are dissatisfied with phone capabilities rather than with the design. The summary of the survey results follows below:

• 38.9% of respondents stated they are dissatisfied with the functionality of their phones; by carrier breakdown, 40.6% were not pleased with au, followed by Softbank (36.1%) and DoCoMo (35.9%)
• 40% of respondents dissatisfied with au stated bad response of keys, while Softbank’s users are not happy with small screens and DoCoMo’s phones are claimed to be slow
• Insufficient battery life was a common complain among all carriers
• 18.1% of respondents didn’t like their phones’ design; by carrier breakdown, DoCoMo (21.1%), au (16.7%), Softbank (13.9%)
• DoCoMo was blamed for buttons on its phones to be difficult to press, while au’s clamshells provide a challenge of opening them with one hand and Softbank’s phones look alike
• Regardless of carrier, users complained about smartphones being big and heavy

Source: iShare

Cell phone's camera feature is utilized by more than 90% of Japanese phone users

Market research company MMD published its latest findings about the usage of cameraphones in Japan (based on online survey of 2,532 respondents). The main points are the following

• 98.3% of respondents have used camera on their mobile phone
• 52.5% of those who have used cameraphone are satisfied with their experience
• About 70% of those who have used cameraphone use phone as a primary device to take pictures
  
• For more than 70% the main reasons of using cameraphone were the ability to take pictures in no time and the fact that the phone is always carried by the owner; among other reasons mentioned were the ability to email the picture immediately (60%), simple way to store pictures(40%), and the ability to easily upload pictures to social networks and other web destinations (20%). 
• Most respondents use camera feature of their phone several times a month while 28.5% of female users use camera two-three times a week

Source: MMD

Forecast: Mobile handset sales to drop by 7% in Japan in 2008

Market research firm M-report predicts mobile handset shipments in Japan will decrease by 7.2% falling below the 46 million units in 2008. While in 2007, Japan’s mobile phone market registered a 5.2% growth over the previous year, stopping short of 50 million mark at 49.55 millions, the year of 2008 promises to be a tough year because of recent handset subsidy regulations and global economic gloom. Other interesting facts from M-report’s press release include the following:

• Japan market witnessed the launch of 140 mobile phone models in 2007
• 99% of phones shipped in 2007 were 3G devices, up 10.6% YoY
• One percent of phones shipped in 2007 were 2G devices, down 89.3% YoY
• 45% of phones shipped in 2007 were mobile broadcasting TV (one seg) enabled devices

Source: M-Report

In Japan, 60% have no idea what Android is

With the growing anticipation of the launch of HTC G1, the first Android based mobile device to be released this week in the US by T-Mobile, Japan’s market research firm iShare conducted an online survey of 422 respondents between 20 and 40 years old to measure the awareness of Android in Japan.

The results are very telling and not that surprising. The majority of respondents (60%) have never heard about Android, with another 25.6% knowing only the Android’s name.

Well-known among early adopters and techies Android will face its greatest challenge of winning the hearts of consumers. It will be interesting to see how T-Mobile USA intends to differentiate the first Android device from HTC, a very unimpressive piece of hardware (from a design point of view). It doesn’t have much space for maneuver. The looks and price are often the deciding factors in user’s choice of the mobile phone. And after iPhone, the appeal of smooth Web experience may not be that new and enough to get attention from end-users.

Source: iShare 

Survey: Japanese handset users’ wants and needs

I came across an interesting survey conducted by iSHARE. They asked users about their expectations toward iPhone and other next generation device features. The responses didn’t surprise and confirmed the industry trend – mobile phones to become as powerful and feature-rich as computers. First of all, survey respondents expect to have rich browsing experience and ability to download software applications without restriction from operators. When respondents were asked about whom they expect to deliver such features, three OEM leaders emerged. Sharp, Sony Ericsson and Panasonic, companies with strong consumer electronics brands, were named among first. It’s interesting that Nokia fared pretty well, bypassing several Japanese OEMs.

Source: iSHARE blogch.jp

CTIA: U.S. consumers enjoy more affordable service than Japanese

Last month, the CTIA, a US-based nonprofit organization representing service providers, manufacturers, wireless data and internet companies, published a study of the U.S. wireless market in comparison with “the markets of the rest of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s top 10 countries ranked by Gross Domestic Product.

The outcome of this study is the conclusion that based on six metrics used in this study, “The United States leads every category that CTIA reviewed, except one, where the U.S. is second. Whether it is the low price of service which results in a level of affordability that drives unprecedented minutes of use, or the unbelievable breadth of choice, it is clear that American consumers are enjoying the benefits of a vibrantly competitive wireless market that is second to none.“

I am not going to argue with the declaration that the U.S. wireless consumers are getting the most bang for the buck, because it is obviously so. However, it would be also interesting to see how the U.S. is scoring in such metrics as 3G or smartphone market penetration or mobile data revenue as a percentage of overall service revenue when compared with other countries. Nevertheless, CTIA made a nice comparison of the U.S. with each country from top ten of OECD countries, including Japan:

Source: CTIA

Japan comes third in world connectivity score

According to a new report, Japan ranked third in countries that use telecoms to increase their public and economic prosperity. The study conducted by London Business School Professor Leonard Waverman and commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks has measured countries on communications technology and other investments in IT. The results are presented in a form of the Connectivity Scorecard where Japan with a score of 6.8 out of ten is trailing behind the United States (6.97) and Sweden (6.83). While behind the U.S., Japan was "rewarded for high use of mobility solutions by businesses in particular." While the results maybe surprising when compared with other similar comparisons, it's important to remember that The Connectivity Scorecard analyses not only a nation’s ICT infrastructure but the effectiveness of its use. The relatively low scores of top three countries suggest there is some room for improvement in "smart" utilization of telecoms technologies for the sake of national prosperity. Grab a copy of full report at Nokia Siemens website.
Source: Nokia Siemens Networks (PDF)

Survey: Nearly half of iPod users intend to switch to iPhone in Japan

According to the recent survey conducted by Mitsubishi Research Institute, iPhone as a product has a high level of awareness among Japanese consumers, with 11.3% of survey respondents (out of total 2,400) understanding iPhone’s features and functions and 35.6% having heard about iPhone name. Moreover, when asked about iPhone purchase intension as a replacement for the existing phone, 5.2% of respondents expressed a strong intension to do so, followed with 22.4% of respondent also considering this move. Male users in age segment from ten to forties and female users in age segment from ten to thirties are the ones with most positive attitude toward buying iPhone, with males in their twenties especially tending to become the first adopters of iPhone in Japan. Among iPod users the intension to buy iPhone was even higher – 13.3% strongly inclined to acquire iPhone and 31.4% more likely to do so.

Source: Mitsubishi Research Institute

Japanese users think iPhone is fat

When asked what additional features they would like to see in iPhone if it was offered in Japan, majority of Japanese users (44.6%) pointed out to the lack of built-in TV tuner, according to online survey results published by research company iShare (1,341 respondents). The wish list for iPhone continues with the upgrade to 3G speeds (37.1%) followed with the inclusion of GPS (36.2%). Surprisingly, a lot of respondents (34.6%) think iPhone is not slim enough, while a rightful number of them want higher resolution camera (33.1%) and removable memory (33.1%).

DoCoMo is perceived as the least likeable carrier to offer iPhone in Japan (17.1%) among the three national cell phone operators, while SoftBank’s chances are the highest (53%) followed with KDDI au (19.6%).

Source: iShare (Japanese)

Second Life demographics revealed

Not really related to mobile topic yet, but couldn't resist putting this info about Second Life demographics here. If you want to target Second Life dwellers with advertisings, it will be usefull to know that Europeans comprise 61% of residents as of March, according to ComScore. Another 19% were from North America, and 13% hailed from the Asia-Pacific region. Regarding the total number of active users ComScore says almost 1.3 million people logged into the virtual environment in March 2007. That's up 46% over the number of active residents in January 2007. comScore also reported that 61% of residents were male and 39% were female. According to statistics released by Linden Labs, creator of Second Life, SL had 5.7 million total residents (including people with multiple SL identities) as of April 15, 2007. Of those, 30% had logged in during the previous 60 days and 17% logged in during the previous 30 days.

via eMarketer

Market reports: What's hot in Japan?

According to some market reports, the hot topics in Japan are the rise of mobile advertising spending and the high penetration rate of quick response (QR) code technology.

Mobile advertising revenue in Japan will more than triple by 2011, according to the "2006 Advertising Expenditures in Japan" report by leading advertiser Dentsu.

Japan has become a leader in developing QR code technology for inputting product or service information into the phone. An NPD Group report titled "Japan Consumer Wireless Study" found that that barcode readers had eclipsed location-based services and radio applications as the mobile features most commonly used by consumers in Japan.

Source: eMarketer

Latest survey: mobile Internet usage in Japan

Video Research Interactive has published the latest results of its survey of mobile Internet usage in Japan. When compared with the results of last year’s survey, it is obvious that the cellphone users of both sexes and different age groups are increasingly getting accustomed to mobile web surfing. At present, around 54% of cellphone users access Internet from a mobile phone at least once a week, while last year only 40% of users did so. The crown of the most active mobile Internet users belongs to the group of 12-19 year old school girls.

One in four Japan wireless subscribers uses GPS

One in four Japan wireless subscribers is already using GPS feature, according to NeproJapan's survey results. Moreover, 70% of respondents are positive about the idea of having GPS feature integrated into their handsets as it provides convenience. They mainly want it to get directions and view maps.

The survey was conducted in September 7-8 targeting at mobile web users (n=3,608) of three top carriers - DoCoMo, au, and Softbank. The gender breakdown: males (42%), females (58%). The age breakdown: less than 19 (2%); 20-29 (35%); 30-39 (44%); 40+ (19%).

Source: NeproJapan

What do Japanese buy using their cellphones?

In the last week of august 2006, Rakuten Research in collaboration with Mitsubishi Research Institute conducted a web-based survey of 2,400 Japanese mobile phone users in order to get a sense of mobile content and service usage trends in Japan. The respondent's pool consisted of evenly divided age groups from 15 to 69 year olds with male and female accounting for 50% share each. Out of total respondents 2,107 or 87.8% were customers of four top carriers - NTT DoCoMo, au, Softbank and TU-KA. Below are some survey results specifically covering the mobile commerce/shopping trends of Japanese cellphone users.


The average amount of money spent by survey respondents shopping from their mobile handsets was 14,676 yen or around $123 with males spending on average 19,594 yen and women only 10,197 yen.



Books and magazines (28.4%) were the favorites among the items bought during one month by survey respondents, followed with CD/DVD (17.5%) and sweets and candies (17.5%).

Source: Rakuten Research

20-to-1: Japan's mobile vs. PC music downloads

Commenting on Apple-Softbank iTunes phone Business Week provides data that Japan's music downloads onto mobile handsets outstrip PC downloads at a 20-to-1 proportion. While there is a huge gap between mobile and PC music downloads, overall the mobile music downloads represent a small chunk of Japan's total music market:

Sales of digital music for cell phones accounted for around 5% of Japan's $4 billion music market last year, according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan. "There's a lot more room for growth in digital music downloads for cell phones," says Ichiro Michikoshi of BCN, a tech market research firm in Japan.

Business Week also says that iPod held a 51.9% music player market share in Japan as of April 2006, followed by Sony (15.2%) and Panasonic (7.1%) who also produce music phones. The move into the handset turf by Apple will seriously deteriorate the handset makers' attempts to grab a market share from Apple, while at the same time will provide Apple with the bargaining power to get much-desired contracts with domestic top labels.

On a carrier's side, the Apple-Softbank phone could provide a boost to Softbank-Vodafone's mobile music service, which is far behind the rivals. For example, KDDI au started offering its full song download service in 2004:

As of mid-January, AU had sold 5.9 million music-playing phones to customers who have bought more than 300 million tunes over the carrier's wireless network. Its LISMO and DuoMusic services let subscribers mix their collection of songs downloaded to cell phones and PCs. One of its handsets, made by Toshiba, has a 4-GB hard disk drive that stores 2,000 songs.

Japanese phone users remain pragmatic

Japan.Internet.com and Cross Marketing conducted a survey of Japanese cellphone users, asking about the optional handset features they use most of all.

Without any surprise, email came first, with 98% of respondents sending and receiving emails via a cell phone. The camera’s second place was easily predictable and reasonable (62%), taking into the account the mass penetration of camera phones in Japan. However, the third place was occupied by a trivial and very pragmatic feature of the alarm clock (61.7%), followed by similarly pragmatic calculator (45.3%) and calendar (33.3%). Surprisingly, the heavily promoted features like MP3 player and mobile TV were lagging behind.

Email tops the list of most popular handset apps in Japan

According to the survey conducted by marketing company iSHARE, Japanese consumers pay attention to the handset’s design (26.3%) first, when choosing a new model. Next come handset’s price (24.3%) and functionality (20.1%).

When asked what handset features they used most, the respondents stated email (45.2%), followed by camera (24.2%) and mobile application usage (10.9%). The high rank of cameras can be explained by the widespread use of QR-codes that need to be scanned by cameras. It is interesting that mobile wallet and Web surfing are missing from the popularity list. Despite the video calling was introduced a while ago in Japan, its adoption remains low. Even radio usage beats video calling, according to iSHARE.