世論 What Japan Thinks

Last time I looked at the iPhone I got a comment on me being a bit negative in my outlook, so this time in a survey by BlogCh looking at smartphones I promise to be more positive!

Demographics

Between the 27th and 29th of August 2008 801 members of the free email service CLUB BBQ who also had a mobile phone for private use completed an online survey. 54.2% of the sample were male, 17.5% in their twenties, 48.3% in their thirties, 29.0% in their forties, and 5.2% in their teens or aged fifty or older. Note that the CLUB BBQ demographics is more technologically aware than the average internet user.

I thought my next mobile phone might be just another bog-standard one, but I just recently read a bit about the HTC Touch (or the HT1100 as DoCoMo label it) and it gets a lot of good reviews and comes in at the same price as… but it doesn’t do emoji. Curses! However, the Willcom 03, one of the subjects of this review, can at least display them.

Indeed, looking at the Willcom 03 feature set it looks like it is what the iPhone should have been for the Japan market. Oops, I’m being negative again, but for the sake of research I stopped at a mobile phone shop and picked up the Willcom 03 leaflet. It’s very feminine, telling the story of a week in the life of a young businesswoman in suitable pastel colours, and for just 6,700 yen all-in for unlimited data and zero money down (I think), it’s a winner.

Incidentally, I’ve not seen an iPhone in the wild yet, and I’ve seen just one or two iPod touches

Research results

Q1: What are the must-have features for the next time you buy a mobile phone? (Sample size=801, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=434	Female N=367
Camera	71.7%	66.8%	77.4%
Email software (multiple mailboxes)	61.2%	57.8%	65.1%
Infrared	40.3%	35.5%	46.0%
Music playback	35.7%	37.3%	33.8%
Full browser	33.2%	39.9%	25.3%
One Seg digital television	33.1%	38.9%	26.2%
Movie playback	32.5%	34.1%	30.5%
FeliCa (electronic cash)	28.8%	35.0%	21.5%
Bluetooth	24.8%	30.6%	18.0%
News reader	10.2%	9.7%	10.9%
Business card management	7.7%	9.9%	5.2%
Other	14.5%	16.6%	12.0%

Q2: What features would you like to have on the next mobile phone you buy? (Sample size=801, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=434	Female N=367
Touch panel	41.2%	45.9%	35.7%
Keyboard	40.9%	46.3%	34.6%
Slider type	19.6%	19.1%	20.2%
Limited edition (design, colour, etc)	16.4%	10.8%	22.9%
Changeable cover	13.5%	5.5%	22.9%
Branded type (Prada, etc)	4.7%	3.7%	6.0%
Other	16.0%	16.8%	15.0%

Q3: What do you think when you look at an iPhone? (Sample size=801, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=434	Female N=367
Seems expensive	47.3%	45.9%	49.0%
Cool	34.5%	35.0%	33.8%
Novel	31.1%	33.6%	28.1%
Amazing technology	30.8%	29.3%	32.7%
Wish a different carrier offered it	21.6%	23.0%	19.9%
Seems difficult to use	14.4%	13.1%	15.8%
Masculine appeal	11.7%	10.6%	13.1%
Feminine appeal	5.0%	5.8%	4.1%
Cute	4.9%	2.1%	8.2%
Other	12.6%	11.5%	13.9%

Q4: What do you think when you look at a Willcom 03? (Sample size=801, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=434	Female N=367
Seems expensive	29.0%	30.9%	26.7%
Feminine appeal	22.3%	19.4%	25.9%
Cute	20.6%	13.1%	29.4%
Cool	19.1%	17.1%	21.5%
Wish a different carrier offered it	18.2%	20.5%	15.5%
Seems difficult to use	16.2%	14.3%	18.5%
Amazing technology	15.4%	16.1%	14.4%
Novel	14.5%	12.7%	16.6%
Masculine appeal	9.0%	9.9%	7.9%
Other	15.6%	15.2%	16.1%

Q5: What is the possibility of you using a smartphone? (Sample size=801)

	All	Male N=434	Female N=367
Already have one	11.4%	14.5%	7.6%
Can see me using one in the future	24.3%	28.1%	19.9%
Open to investigating it	30.6%	31.1%	30.0%
Don’t know yet	33.7%	26.3%	42.5%

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