世論 What Japan Thinks

With Japan’s Asian neighbours of Taiwan, China and South Korea making inroads into areas of Japan’s market that Japanese companies used to dominate, this survey from goo Research, performed in conjuction with the Nikkei Shimbun (Japan’s Financial Times), into Chinese, South Korean and Taiwanese makers’ digital devices and home electronics provides some insights into the strengths and weaknesses of these companies.

Demographics

Between the 9th and 13th of March 2012 577 members of the goo Research online monitor group aged over 20 years old and in full-time employment completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 24.8% in their twenties, 25.0% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, and 25.3% aged fifty or older.

Before reading this survey, I would have said that computers (Taiwanese), smartphones (Samsung and LG) and televisions (Samsung and LG again) would have been the biggest markets, so I was surprised to see fridges and washing machines ahead of smartphones. Of course, many Japanese-branded fridges and washing machines, etc, are assembled in China!

I’m typing this on an MSI (Taiwan), my main desktop is from Acer (Taiwan), and I also have a room fan from an obscure Chinese firm. Pretty much everything else is Japanese, except for my Braun razor.

Research results

Q1: What kinds of home electrical goods from Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean makers have you bought? (Sample size=577, multiple answer)

Refrigerator	5.5%
Washing machine	5.9%
Microwave oven	3.5%
Air conditioner	1.9%
Television	7.1%
DVD, Blue-ray disk player	6.6%
Portable music player	3.8%
Smartphone	3.3%
Computer	11.4%
Other	4.0%
Never bought anything	67.8%

Q2: Were you aware of it being a Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean brand when buying? (Sample size=various)

	Aware	Not aware
Refrigerator N=32	46.9%	53.1%
Washing machine N=34	44.1%	55.9%
Microwave oven N=20	35.0%	65.0%
Air conditioner N=41	46.3%	53.7%
DVD, Blue-ray disk player N=38	34.2%	65.8%
Portable music player N=22	63.6%	36.4%
Smartphone N=19	68.4%	31.6%
Computer N=66	54.5%	45.5%

Q3: Why did you choose to buy Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean brand white goods? (Sample size=64, white goods buyers, multiple answer)

Cheap	85.9%
Simple features	21.9%
Good design	10.9%
Had sufficient functionality	9.4%
Good after-sales service	3.1%
Seemed a trustworthy brand	3.1%
Seemed high-quality	3.1%
Other	3.1%

Q4: How satisfied are you with each aspect of the Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean white goods brand(s) you have bought? (Sample size=64, white goods buyers)

	Completely satisfied	Somewhat satisified	Somewhat dissatisified	Completely dissatisfied
Cheapness	37.5%	59.4%	1.6%	1.6%
Rich functionality	9.4%	43.8%	39.1%	7.8%
Ease of use	12.5%	65.6%	18.8%	3.1%
Goodness of design	12.5%	54.7%	29.7%	3.1%
Goodness of after-sales service	3.1%	46.9%	40.6%	9.4%
Brand image	0.0%	51.6%	39.1%	9.4%
Quality	7.8%	50.0%	35.9%	6.3%

Q5: Why did you choose to buy Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean brand digital, AV goods? (Sample size=141, digital, AV goods buyers, multiple answer)

Cheap	87.9%
Had sufficient functionality	20.6%
Good design	15.6%
Simple features	14.9%
Seemed a trustworthy brand	7.1%
Seemed high-quality	7.1%
Good after-sales service	1.4%
Other	2.1%

Q6: How satisfied are you with each aspect of the Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean digital, AV brand(s) you have bought? (Sample size=141, digital, AV goods buyers)

	Completely satisfied	Somewhat satisified	Somewhat dissatisified	Completely dissatisfied
Cheapness	45.4%	48.9%	2.8%	2.8%
Rich functionality	12.1%	59.6%	24.8%	3.5%
Ease of use	12.1%	63.1%	19.1%	5.7%
Goodness of design	10.6%	59.6%	26.2%	3.5%
Goodness of after-sales service	6.4%	41.8%	39.7%	12.1%
Brand image	5.7%	46.1%	39.7%	8.5%
Quality	9.2%	53.9%	27.0%	9.9%

Q7: How likely are you to buy Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean brand home electrical goods? (Sample size=391, digital, those who have never bought)

Very likely (to SQ1)	2.6%
Quite likely (to SQ1)	21.2%
Not very likely (to SQ2)	40.9%
Not at all likely (to SQ2)	35.3%

Q7SQ1: What kinds of Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean brand home electrical goods are you likely to buy? (Sample size=93, multiple answer)

Refrigerator	26.9%
Washing machine	22.6%
Microwave oven	26.9%
Air conditioner	18.3%
Television	49.5%
DVD, Blue-ray disk player	25.8%
Portable music player	29.0%
Smartphone	29.0%
Computer	43.0%
Other	5.4%

Q7SQ2: Why are you not likely to buy Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean brand home electrical goods? (Sample size=298, multiple answer)

Seem to be poor quality	75.5%
After-sales service seems to be a problem	50.3%
Cannot trust the brand	50.3%
Seem to be poorly designed	9.1%
Seem to have few functions	8.4%
Seem difficult to use	7.4%
Seem expensive	1.0%
Other	6.7%

Q8: For each of the following Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean brands, do you know them, do you have any items from them, and might you buy from them in the future? (Sample size=577, multiple answer)

	Know them	Have items	May buy items
Samsung	92.7%	8.5%	30.7%
LG	82.3%	9.5%	21.1%
Heier	42.1%	3.8%	8.1%
Hi-sense	6.4%	0.3%	1.9%
Lenovo	60.7%	7.6%	16.6%
Acer	49.0%	6.9%	17.9%
Asus	28.1%	4.7%	14.0%
BenQ	19.2%	2.6%	6.2%
HTC	22.5%	1.2%	6.8%
Know, have, will buy none	4.9%	71.6%	56.8%