世論 What Japan Thinks

[part one] [part two]

This recent survey from Interface In Design into smart television, where the respondents got to compare devices hands-on, produced the surprising result that one Korean model beat three Japanese models in almost every category.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 16th of October 2012 240 people were picked off the street to take part in a Central Location Test, where they could try all the devices under test hands-on. The sample was of people who watched television at home at least thrice a week, and there was a 50:50 split of the sexes in each of four age groups, with 25% in their twenties, thirties, forties, and fifties or older. The televisions under test were all 55 or 52 inch LCDs, Panasonic TH-L55ET5, Sony KDL-55HX850, Sharp LC-52L5 and LG 55LM7600.

I believe that in this test people were aware which television was which, in other words there is nothing that I could see in the survey that suggests that maker names were hidden. This makes the graph here even more suprising, as one would have thought the people surveyed would have been more loyal to their local brands. Even if names were hidden, it still makes grim reading for the Japanese television manufacturers, what with now all three of the makers here having their shares relegated to junk status.

Research results

Q7: How were the available contents for each device? (Sample size=240, multiple answer)

	Panasonic	Sony	Sharp	LG
Richness of offerings	62.8%	63.2%	53.8%	81.6%
Various contents to enjoy	75.0%	76.3%	64.9%	85.5%

Q8: Which television had the best physical design? (Sample size=240)

Panasonic	23.8%
Sony	15.8%
Sharp	6.3%
LG	54.2%

Q9: How were the various aspects of the physical design of each television? (Sample size=240, multiple answer)

	Panasonic	Sony	Sharp	LG
First impressions	76.5%	77.4%	53.5%	83.5%
Frontal view	75.8%	74.5%	51.5%	84.0%
Thinness of screen bezel	69.5%	72.9%	57.6%	91.9%
Overall depth	91.9%	89.7%	56.4%	93.6%

Q10: How was the physical design of the frontal view of each television? (Sample size=240, multiple answer)

	Male	Female
Panasonic	69.3%	82.1%
Sony	78.1%	70.9%
Sharp	52.6%	50.4%
LG	87.7%	80.3%

Q10: How was the overall depth of television? (Sample size=240, multiple answer)

	Male	Female
Panasonic	88.0%	95.7%
Sony	84.6%	94.9%
Sharp	48.7%	64.1%
LG	96.6%	90.6%

Q11: How well did the physical design harmonise with the room’s interior design? (Sample size=240, multiple answer)

	Male	Female
Panasonic	70.4%	82.8%
Sony	72.2%	74.1%
Sharp	47.2%	57.8%
LG	77.8%	63.8%

Q12: How do you evaluate the television’s portal’s home screen? (Sample size=240, multiple answer)

	Panasonic	Sony	Sharp	LG
Home page design	74.7%	58.7%	43.6%	71.1%
Ease of finding contents I want to view	70.0%	54.5%	60.0%	63.2%

Q13: How do you evaluate the Panasonic television’s portal’s home screen? (Sample size=240, multiple answer)

	Twenties	Thirties	Forties	Fifties+
Ease of finding contents I want to view	66.1%	67.9%	70.9%	75.0%
Would want to buy	46.7%	60.5%	65.9%	67.4%

[part one] [part two]