世論 What Japan Thinks

With everyone spending so long in trains every day, and there being only so much email you can write, mobile phone applets are an alternative diversion that almost all Japanese phones support. This recent survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com looked at this topic of mobile phone applets.

Demographics

Between the 16th and 20th of October 2008 1,076 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 15.9% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 16.8% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

When I get a new phone I tend to play the built-in applets to death, then get bored and give up, so I haven’t actually used any for over a year. Every time I see the ads I quite fancy signing up for Pakurosu, but since it is 315 yen per month, I always resist the temptation!

Research results

Q1: Does your mobile phone support downloadable applets? (Sample size=1,076)

Yes (to SQ1, then to SQ3)	77.6%
No (to SQ3)	16.0%
Don’t have a mobile phone	6.4%

Q1SQ1: About how often do you use mobile phone applets? (Sample size=835)

Almost every day (to SQ2)	19.9%
Once every two or three days (to SQ2)	15.0%
Once a week (to SQ2)	13.4%
Once or twice a month (to SQ2)	11.7%
Once every two or three months (to SQ2)	3.0%
Once every six months (to SQ2)	2.6%
Once a year (to SQ2)	0.6%
Don’t really use them	22.6%
Never used them	11.1%

Q1SQ2: What kinds of applets have you used? (Sample size=742, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Games	545	73.5%
Maps	250	33.7%
Wallpaper (animated, etc)	225	30.3%
Email	217	29.2%
GPS-based navigation	186	25.1%
Osaifu-keitai electronic cash related	167	7.4%
Dictionary	140	3.0%
News	138	18.6%
Tools	121	16.3%
Clock	121	16.3%
Melody-related	102	13.7%
Remote control	97	13.1%
Fortune telling	61	8.2%
Instant messenger	56	7.5%
Other	54	7.3%

Q1SQ3: What kinds of game would you want to see more of? (Sample size=1,007, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Falling block games (Tetris, Puyo-Puyo, etc)	274	27.2%
Puzzle	225	22.3%
RPG	163	16.2%
Quiz	151	15.0%
Simulation	131	13.0%
Go, shogi, chess, horse racing	117	11.6%
Table game	115	11.4%
Sports	72	7.1%
Online game	57	5.7%
Adventure	46	4.6%
Shooting	44	4.4%
Action	41	4.1%
Racing	37	3.7%
Adult	32	3.2%
First-Player Shooter	31	3.1%
Simulator	30	3.0%
Fighting	26	2.6%
Typing	23	2.3%
Other	8	0.8%
Nothing in particular	399	39.6%