世論 What Japan Thinks

This survey from Marsh Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com into the matter of the iPhone also finds that a surprising to me percentage of people are aware of the details of the launch of the device.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 23th of June 2008 300 members of the Marsh online monitor successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sex and age breakdown was not reported, although Marsh usually has a 50:50 sex split, and 20% of people in their teens, twenties, thirties and forties, and the remaining 20% split between those in their fifties and those aged sixty or older.

My price predictions, then my reports of a leaked pricing memo have both turned out to be wrong, as on the 23th of June there was an official annoucement of the iPhone price. I still feel that the price is a bit low and as it undercuts the Series X smartphone prices, so I wonder if there is hidden charges or any extras that will bring the price up a bit. In Japan, as there is little public WiFi, the iPhone will put quite a strain on the mobile network, so does SoftBank have the capacity to handle a successful iPhone?

Oh, and here’s a rather low-quality video of the Japanese 12-key input method running in an emulator, using a mouse rather than a finger. I like the pop-ups when you hold down a button.

Research results

Q1: What do you know about the iPhone is going on sale in Japan? (Sample size=300)

Know it is going on sale in July	42.0%
Know it is being sold by SoftBank	28.3%
Know it will be sold in Japan	10.3%
Didn’t know it would be offered in Japan	3.3%
Don’t know anything about the iPhone	16.0%

For SoftBank users, just one said they were definitely getting an iPhone, and 31 said they wanted to upgrade, making round about half of all SoftBank customers in this sample are potential iPhoners. These 32 were asked a few further questions. Note that although the total number of SoftBank customers was not reported, other surveys show that about one in five people are with SoftBank, so in this sample there is around 60 SoftBank customers, so just about half want an iPhone!

For non-SoftBank users, 5 said they would change to SoftBank just for the iPhone, and 40 people if the price was right would upgrade. These 45 were also asked a few further questions.

When asked which features (multiple answer) of the iPhone they found attractive, 21 SoftBank users said the multi-touch panel, 18 the music features, 16 YouTube and other movie viewing functions, 13 the design, 11 the web browser, 9 the Apple brand, and 7 the GPS functions.

For non-SoftBank users, 25 people the design, 22 people the Apple brand, 22 the multi-touch panel, 21 the music features, 18 YouTube and other movie viewing functions, 11 the web browser, and 8 the GPS functions.

Q2: If the price is up to how much would you change to the iPhone? (Sample size=32)

10,000 yen	12.5%
15,000 yen	9.4%
20,000 yen	31.3%
22,000 yen	12.5%
30,000 yen	15.6%
35,000 yen	6.3%
40,000 yen	0.0%
45,000 yen	6.3%
50,000 yen	3.1%
Other	3.1%

Q3: If the price is up to how much would you change carriers to use the iPhone? (Sample size=45)

10,000 yen	8.9%
15,000 yen	15.6%
20,000 yen	22.2%
22,000 yen	13.3%
30,000 yen	17.8%
35,000 yen	8.9%
40,000 yen	4.4%
45,000 yen	2.2%
50,000 yen	2.2%
Other	4.4%

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