世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1][part 2][part 3][part 4]

Macromill Research recently published the results of a massive yet fascinating study into smartphones, looking at both smartphone users and those wanting to buy. This will be published in four parts.

Demographics

Over the 17th and 18th of February 2011 412 smartphone owning and 206 non-smartphone owning but thinking of buying members of the Macromill monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The 412 smartphone users were split into 290 male and 122 female, 73 in their twenties, 169 in their thirties, 111 in their forties, and 59 aged fifty or older. Furthermore, 209 owned an iPhone, 159 Android-based phones, and the remaining 44 had other OSes or didn’t know. Of the 206 non-smartphone users, 113 were male and 93 female, but their ages were not listed.

I am in the second demographic, but the unlimited data packet plan price puts me off. If I were to buy right now, I’d probably go for the cheapest smartphone at the moment, the LG Optimus Chat with the slide-out keyboard, although I suspect the low-spec screen would annoy me! Secondly, a slightly higher-resolution Samsung Galaxy Tab might do the business, if it meant I could ditch the notebook.

Research results

Q1: Why did you buy your current smartphone? (Sample size=412, multiple answer)

	All	iPhone users N=209	Android users N=159	Male N=290	Female N=122
To view PC-designed web sites	78.4%	79.9%	79.2%	77.6%	80.3%
Rich set of apps	59.5%	67.5%	58.5%	61.0%	55.7%
Can check PC email from anywhere	49.5%	50.7%	50.3%	50.3%	47.5%
Can do many things with it	49.0%	49.3%	50.9%	40.3%	69.7%
Seemed useful	43.9%	45.9%	42.8%	39.3%	54.9%
Big screen	41.3%	35.9%	50.3%	41.0%	41.8%
Smartphone are going to become the standard	39.3%	32.5%	54.1%	36.2%	46.7%
Touch panel	39.1%	36.4%	43.4%	37.9%	41.8%
Easy to use maps	38.6%	39.2%	41.5%	39.0%	37.7%
Seems fun	28.9%	29.7%	30.8%	23.8%	41.0%
As a PC replacement	28.6%	26.8%	28.3%	26.2%	34.4%
Has apps I want to use	24.8%	31.6%	17.0%	25.2%	23.8%
In vogue	22.8%	21.5%	27.7%	20.3%	28.7%
Can view Word, Excel, etc files	21.8%	14.8%	27.7%	24.1%	16.4%
Elegant design	21.6%	24.4%	22.0%	21.4%	22.1%
Got bored with previous phone, previous phone got old	18.2%	17.2%	23.3%	14.8%	26.2%
Cool	17.2%	16.7%	20.1%	16.6%	18.9%
Promotional campaign, cheap price	17.0%	17.7%	17.0%	13.8%	24.6%
Other	25.7%	19.1%	34.6%	20.3%	38.5%

Unfortunately, what “others” attracted women was not listed.

The next question was to the non-smartphone sample.

Q2: Why have you not bought a smartphone? (Sample size=206, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=113	Female N=93
Want to wait and see a little longer	52.4%	50.4%	54.8%
Handset is expensive	46.1%	45.1%	47.3%
Worried about how easy they are to use	28.6%	22.1%	36.6%
Battery life seems poor	24.3%	29.2%	18.3%
Still in a contract for my current phone	24.3%	23.0%	25.8%
Would have to change my email address	21.4%	21.2%	21.5%
Handsets are large	13.6%	11.5%	16.1%
Cannot watch one seg television	13.6%	15.9%	10.8%
Cannot use Osaifu Keitai electronic cash	11.7%	15.0%	7.5%
Touch panel seems difficult to use	11.7%	6.2%	18.3%
Useability seems poor	9.7%	8.0%	11.8%
Worried about durability	8.3%	6.2%	10.8%
Tied to my current service provider	7.8%	12.4%	2.2%
No designs I like	6.3%	6.2%	6.5%
Other	21.8%	24.8%	18.3%

Q3A: What points were important when choosing the smartphone to buy? (Sample size=412, multiple free answer, top ten)

Rank		Percentage
1	Design	49.5%
2	Useability	42.0%
3	Handset shape, size	36.7%
4	Screen size	35.9%
5=	Wi-Fi support	34.7%
5=	Handset price	34.7%
7=	Brand, maker	32.3%
7=	Breadth of apps	32.3%
9	Touch panel responsiveness	29.1%
10	Discount, bundle on purchase	26.9%

Q3B: What points were important when choosing the smartphone to buy? (Sample size=209, iPhone owners, multiple free answer, top ten)

Rank		Percentage
1	Design	48.8%
2	Breadth of apps	43.1%
3=	Useability	42.1%
3=	Brand, maker	42.1%
5	Wi-Fi support	36.8%
6	Handset price	35.4%
7	Memory size	31.6%
8	Handset shape, size	31.1%
9	Screen size	28.7%
10	Discount, bundle on purchase	28.2%

Q3C: What points were important when choosing the smartphone to buy? (Sample size=159, Android owners, multiple free answer, top ten)

Rank		Percentage
1	Design	52.8%
2	Screen size	45.9%
3	Handset shape, size	45.3%
4	Useability	44.0%
5	Carrier	37.1%
6	No need to change mobile address	36.5%
7	Handset price	34.0%
8	Touch panel responsiveness	31.4%
9	Wi-Fi support	30.8%
10	Operating system	28.3%

Q3D: What points would be important were you choosing a smartphone to buy? (Sample size=206, non-smartphone owners, multiple free answer, top ten)

Rank		Percentage
1	Handset price	70.4%
2	Useability	58.3%
3	Battery life	53.4%
4	Handset shape, size	51.5%
5	Design	49.0%
6	No need to change mobile address	44.2%
7	Durability	41.3%
8	Screen size	38.3%
9	Carrier	35.0%
10	Touch panel responsiveness	34.5%

Q3E: What points were important when choosing the smartphone to buy? (Sample size=73, 20-29 years old, multiple free answer, top ten)

Rank		Percentage
1	Design	61.6%
2	Handset shape, size	49.3%
3=	Screen size	43.8%
3=	Useability	43.8%
5	Breadth of apps	37.0%
6=	Brand, maker	35.6%
6=	Handset price	35.6%
6=	Discount, bundle on purchase	35.6%
9	Touch panel responsiveness	32.9%
10	Memory size	31.5%

Q3F: What points were important when choosing the smartphone to buy? (Sample size=169, 30-39 years old, multiple free answer, top ten)

Rank		Percentage
1	Design	49.1%
2	Useability	37.9%
3	Handset shape, size	36.7%
4=	Brand, maker	34.9%
4=	Handset price	34.9%
6	Breadth of apps	30.8%
7	Screen size	30.2%
8	Touch panel responsiveness	28.4%
9	Wi-Fi support	27.8%
10=	Carrier	26.0%
10=	Discount, bundle on purchase	26.0%

Q3G: What points were important when choosing the smartphone to buy? (Sample size=111, 40-49 years old, multiple free answer, top ten)

Rank		Percentage
1=	Design	49.5%
1=	Useability	49.5%
3	Wi-Fi support	42.3%
4	Screen size	38.7%
5=	Breadth of apps	32.4%
5=	Handset price	32.4%
7	Handset shape, size	30.6%
8	Brand, maker	29.7%
9	Touch panel responsiveness	27.9%
10	Battery life	27.0%

Q3H: What points were important when choosing the smartphone to buy? (Sample size=59, 50 years old or older, multiple free answer, top ten)

Rank		Percentage
1	Wi-Fi support	47.5%
2=	Screen size	37.3%
2=	Useability	37.3%
2=	Handset price	37.3%
5	Design	35.6%
6=	Handset shape, size	32.2%
6=	Memory size	32.2%
8	Breadth of apps	30.5%
9	Touch panel responsiveness	28.8%
10	Brand, maker	25.4%

Q4: When buying a smartphone, what kinds of information did you, will you refer to? (Sample size=412 and 206, multiple answer)

	Smartphone users N=412	Non-smartphone users N=206
Catalogue, official web site	53.2%	63.6%
Internet comparison site, printed comparison	48.1%	54.9%
Shop staff advice	29.4%	45.6%
Television advertisements	29.1%	42.2%
Word of mouth	27.2%	33.5%
Magazine articles	24.8%	23.8%
SNS, blog, Twitter	19.2%	10.2%
Internet advertisement	12.9%	13.6%
Magazine advertisement	10.9%	12.1%
Newspaper advertisement	4.9%	7.3%
Newspaper article	4.6%	5.8%
Other	3.4%	3.9%

Q5A: Do you have a normal mobile phone along with your smartphone? (Sample size=412)

Smartphone only	59.2%
Both smartphone and ordinary phone	39.3%
Other	1.5%

Q5B: Do you plan to keep a normal mobile phone if you buy a smartphone? (Sample size=206)

Smartphone only	87.4%
Both smartphone and ordinary phone	10.7%
Other	1.9%

[part 1][part 2][part 3][part 4]