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.

Q21 is interesting; the difference between the number of free apps for iPhone versus Android can perhaps partially be explained by the iPhone having been on the market longer, but the paid-for difference is due to people already having their credit card details in iTunes, so the barrier to paying is much lower than that for Android. Furthermore, Apple do not go out of their way to promote free applications, whereas Android users can find plenty of free applications from alternative stores, some of which might even be virus-free.

Research results

Q18: When you buy a replacement for your current phone, will it be a smartphone or another phone? (Sample size=412)

Would like a smartphone	76.5%
Can’t say	21.4%
Would like a non-smartphone	2.2%

Q19: What genres of applications have you downloaded? Which genres have you paid for? (Sample size=412, multiple answer)

	Downloaded	Paid for
Weather, news	49.3%	2.9%
Traffic, navigation	47.3%	5.8%
Game	44.4%	8.0%
Social networking	32.3%	2.2%
Business, work efficiency	30.6%	7.3%
Restaurant info, recipe	29.9%	1.7%
Photo, movie	26.5%	5.3%
Dictionary, translation	20.9%	5.3%
Auction, shopping	20.9%	0.2%
Electronic book	19.9%	7.8%
Utility	18.7%	2.2%
Music	17.5%	2.4%
Travel	14.1%	2.2%
Health, medical	13.8%	1.0%
Home budgeting, investment	13.1%	1.2%
Entertainment	8.5%	1.7%
Study, qualification	7.8%	3.9%
Sports	5.8%	0.2%
Childbirth, childrearing	1.5%	0.7%
Other	19.4%	1.5%

Q20: Where do you gather information about applications from? What is the main source? (Sample size=412, multiple answer)

	One source	Main source
Internet bulletin board, blog, SNS, etc	69.9%	47.3%
App store, app download site	57.3%	34.7%
Magazine	28.4%	6.1%
Word of mouth	26.9%	7.0%
Television	11.2%	1.9%
Other	4.1%	2.9%

Q21A: How many free applications have you downloaded? (Sample size=412, average number)

All	27.7
iPhone users N=208	38.8
Android users N=159	18.0
Male N=289	28.0
Female N=122	26.7

Q21B: How many paid applications have you downloaded? (Sample size=412, average number)

All	4.8
iPhone users N=209	8.5
Android users N=159	1.2
Male N=289	4.9
Female N=122	4.8

Q22: What is the most you would be prepared to pay for an application? (Sample size=412)

100 yen	5.3%
300 yen	16.7%
500 yen	23.1%
1,000 yen	18.2%
2,000 yen	10.2%
3,000 yen	4.6%
5,000 yen	4.1%
Over 5,000 yen	2.9%
Don’t want to pay for applications	14.8%

Q23: What social network services do you use? (Sample size=412, multiple answer)

	All	iPhone users N=209	Android users N=159	Male N=290	Female N=122
Twitter	47.6%	55.0%	42.1%	43.4%	57.4%
mixi	47.1%	50.7%	45.9%	40.3%	63.1%
Facebook	21.8%	23.9%	18.2%	23.4%	18.0%
Gree	15.0%	13.4%	17.0%	14.8%	15.6%
Mobage Town	15.0%	11.5%	20.1%	16.2%	12.3%
Ameba Nau	7.8%	7.7%	8.8%	5.5%	13.1%
Myspace	6.3%	5.7%	6.9%	5.2%	9.0%
Google Buzz	4.4%	2.4%	7.5%	4.8%	3.3%

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