世論 What Japan Thinks

As most Apple and iPhone watchers are aware, shortly after releasing the iPhone at $600 they dropped the price to $400, although they did give refund vouchers to many customers. The press thought little of it, although I did not see any statistics to suggest how the average US resident felt. To find out what the average Japanese person felt looking in from the outside, japan.internet.com reported on a survey conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into Apple’s brand image, and in this article focusing on the iPhone pricing.

Demographics

On the 25th of October 2007 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel employed in either the public or private sectores completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 81.8% of the sample was male, 9.4% were in their twenties, 40.9% in their thirties, 37.9% in their forties, 9.1% in their fifties, and 2.7% in their sixties.

As I have no intention of purchasing an iPhone myself, I can’t say I really felt much about their strategy, and given how many fanboys Apple seems to have, I couldn’t really understand the need to cut the price so early.

Research results

First of all, since this was a survey into Apple’s brand image, only those who already owned an Apple product were asked the following questions. Out of the 330 in the sample, 126 people, or 38.2%, owned an Apple product. Judging from other surveys, the vast majority of these would be iPod owners.

Q1: Did you know that soon after the release of the iPhone Apple significantly reduced the price? (Sample size=126)

Knew about it (to SQs)	38.9%
Didn’t know about it	61.1%

Q1SQ1: How do you feel about Apple’s iPhone pricing strategy? (Sample size=49)

Extremely comfortable	18.4%
Somewhat confortable	14.3%
Somewhat uncomfortable	28.6%
Extremely uncomfortable	8.2%
Can’t say either way	30.6%

Q1SQ2: After hearing this news, did your opinion of Apple products or their brand image change? (Sample size=49)

Very much better	6.1%
Somewhat better	10.2%
Not changed	59.2%
Somewhat worse	24.5%
Very much worse	0.0%

Q1SQ3: Will you want to buy Apple products in the future? (Sample size=49)

Would want to buy	61.2%
Wouldn’t want to buy	2.0%
Don’t know	36.7%