世論 What Japan Thinks

I’m still looking for a survey on the hottest topic these days, the disease formally known as swine ‘flu, but with no luck yet, so instead you’ll have to make do with a look at an update on last year’s pandemic of mass hysteria in this survey from iShare on the Apple iPhone’s image in Japan.

Demographics

Between the 13th and 16th of April 2009 342 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service who had a mobile phone for personal use completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.3% of the sample were male, 36.8% in their twenties, 29.2% in their thirties, and 33.9% in their forties.

In Q2 it is interesting that nearly all of the series mentioned are RPGs, but given the lack of an external keypad, I’m not really too sure how well they would play. As I suspected, if you have a jailbroken phone, the MAME emulator can be downloaded to give access to the older titles, and the touchpanel controls look nice.

Research results

Q1: Do you have an Apple iPhone, or have you investigated getting one? (Sample size=342)

	All	Male N=189	Female N=153
Have one (to SQ1)	4.4%	4.2%	4.6%
Investigating getting one (to SQ1, SQ3)	4.4%	6.3%	2.0%
Investigated getting one, but didn’t (to SQ2, SQ3)	13.7%	13.8%	13.7%
Not investigated getting one	77.5%	75.7%	79.7%

Q1SQ1: What do you think are the charms of an Apple iPhone? (Sample size=30, multiple answer)

Rich set of applications	76.7%
Music player functions	66.7%
Internet connectivity (browser, etc)	63.3%
Expandability	46.7%
Usability	46.7%
Styling of the physical handset	40.0%
Can use software from all over the world	20.0%
Camera functions	13.3%
Other	3.3%

For women, music playing features was most important, followed by a rich set of applications. For men, it was the rich application set, internet connectivity, music playing, expandability, usability and style that rated at fifty percent or over, in that order.

Q1SQ2: Why did you not purchase an Apple iPhone? (Sample size=47, multiple answer)

Handset price	36.2%
Service provider (SoftBank)	27.7%
I was in a two-year contract with my current phone	23.4%
Had to take out a two-year contract	19.1%
Difficult to use	17.0%
There might be a new iPhone coming out	12.8%
Battery life	12.8%
Weight	10.6%
Don’t have a computer, only have an old computer	4.3%
Other	38.3%

SoftBank being the carrier was the biggest identified issue with men, and already being in a two-year contract for women.

Q1SQ3: Why did you feel the Apple iPhone had charm? (Sample size=77, multiple answer)

Styling of the physical handset	59.7%
Saw television advertisement	26.0%
Played with it in a shop	24.7%
Saw it being talked about on the internet	19.5%
Played with friend’s, family’s one	18.2%
Saw someone else using it	18.2%
Was introduced in a magazine	7.8%

Q2: Which game series would increase the number of Apple iPhone users, if they were released on the device? (Sample size=342, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=189	Female N=153
Dragon Quest	38.6%	35.4%	42.5%
Final Fantasy	34.2%	30.2%	39.2%
Monster Hunter	25.4%	25.4%	25.5%
Mario	24.3%	18.0%	32.0%
Momotaro Dentestu	21.1%	18.5%	24.2%
Zelda	10.2%	10.6%	9.8%
Gran Turismo	9.4%	14.3%	3.3%
Metal Gear Solid	7.3%	9.5%	4.6%
Shiren the Wanderer	6.1%	5.8%	6.5%
Megami Tensei	6.1%	5.8%	6.5%
Wizardry	5.3%	6.3%	3.9%
Rockman (Mega Man)	4.1%	5.8%	2.0%
Other	24.9%	27.0%	22.2%