世論 What Japan Thinks

As part of goo Research’s 12th regular survey into terrestrial digital television broadcasts, reported on by japan.internet.com, people’s upgrade plans were revealed, and the cheapest option of a separate tuner box had very few takers.

Demographics

Between the 10th and 15th of December 2009 1,062 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 16.5% in their teens, 18.3% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.0% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

My parents in law need to be upgraded at, no doubt, my expense, so they’ll be getting the cheapest option, the tuner box, assuming we can find one! Last month they had NTT round trying to sell them either ADSL or fibre plus IPTV (they weren’t very sure either) but at about 5,000 yen per month it didn’t take much for us to persuade them it was an utter waste!

We’ve a digital-ready DVD and hard disk recorder, but I wonder if I might also buy a tuner box as the recorder takes too long to power up. But if we do that, we then have to worry about remote control overload…

Chidejika terrestrial digital television promotion mascot character bento lunch box from works & technica.
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Although all electronic book readers in Japan have died a death since the very first one in 1990, with even big manufacturer-backed models like Panasonic’s Sigma Book and Sony’s Librie failing, Amazon’s Kindle and even Sony’s western models are flying off the shelves. To see if there are any signs of life in the Japan market, iBridge Research Plus looked at electronic book readers in a report published on japan.internet.com.

Demographics

On the 28th of December 2009 300 members of the iBridge monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.0% of the sample were male, 11.7% in their twenties, 31.3% in their thirties, 31.0% in their forties, 16.7% in their fifties, and 9.3% in their sixties.

For me too the current price of around 20,000 to 30,000 yen for the average reader is a bit much, especially as most companies haven’t got the interface quite right yet, judging from the reviews. As to why people are setting their price tag so low, perhaps it has something to do with the already-established user-base for mobile phone-based reading material?
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I find the figure of one in four people usually carrying a standard notebook computer a quite frankly unbelievable figure from this survey from goo Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, the third regular mobile devices survey. I have also translated the first and second surveys.

Demographics

On the 26th of November 2009 1,095 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.5% of the sample were male, 16.5% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 15.6% in their forties, and 28.0% aged fifty or older.

Since the last survey the percentage of both notebooks and PSPs being carried has increased, which the report suggested was due to Windows 7 and PSP Go launches. However, the number carrying smartphones was down 0.7%, but I suspect that might be as much a statistical blip as an indication of a definite trend.
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With the busiest season for home printers coming up, namely the creation of New Year cards, it is quite timely that goo Research, as reported on by japan.internet.com, looked at printers at home.

Demographics

Between the 18th and 20th of November 2009 1,093 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 16.6% in their teens, 18.3% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, 15.4% in their fifties, and 12.1% aged sixty or older.

I’ve read stories than in the US ink jets are so cheap yet cartridges are quite expensive, people just throw away the whole printer when they run out.

I post all my empty cartridges into Yodobashi Camera’s recycle box. Checking my local rubbish collection rules, I see that the cartridges are burnables, so in Q3 are about one in five incorrectly disposing of their items? It also mentions in the notes column that if possible, one should use a recycle box at the shops.
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Looking at the alphabet soup of new models for this autumn and winter from docomo and SoftBank, one could be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed, with about 20 new handset each. Seeing how widespread this feeling was was one of the questions asked in the 49th regular upgrade needs survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

Between the 17th and 20th of November 2009 exactly 1,000 mobile phone using members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private mobile phone-based questionnaire. 52.2% of the sample were male, 1.3% in their teens, 14.3% in their twenties, 33.3% in their thirties, 27.7% in their forties, and 23.4% aged fifty or older.

I’m overwhelmed by the number, especially as they all have roughly the same price and feature overload. If there was an entry-level phone with no One Seg television, a low-end camera, and no touch screen, flashing lights and other gimmics, I’m sure it could sell.

I’ve also got no intention to buy this season, partially as I’m waiting to see how well the Japanese manufacturers tackle making Android phones for the domestic market, and partially because I spent my toy budget on a netbook.
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Following on from docomo’s autumn and winter line-up, today we look at SoftBank’s new models, the subject of this survey from Marsh Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

Between the 18th and 23rd of November 2009 300 members of the Marsh mobile monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, 0.7% in their teens, 19.3% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

Looking at this and the previous docomo survey (I’ll skip the au one if that turns up!) you might be left thinking that that’s an awful lot of new phones! Well, you wouldn’t be the only one, as today another survey was published (I’ll be translating it either tomorrow or Monday) asking that very question.

Looking at the models available, I’m most interested in the one pictured here, the Sharp 942SH KT…
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Docomo have recently announced their new line up for autumn and winter. There are almost no new phones; most of them are just refreshes of existing products with maybe a higher-end camera here and a few extra lighting effects there. One new one is the SC-01B, which seems to be just a Japanese-targetted tweak of Samsung’s Omnia Pro B7330 with a touch panel, but the B code seems to be trying to suggest to the customer that it’s an upgraded BlackBerry Bold. Anyway, these NTT docomo new models were the subject of this survey from Marsh Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

Between the 12th and 15th of November 2009 300 members of the Marsh mobile monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, 20.0% in their teens, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

The Photopanel 02 is a new one on me, but as the name suggests it is a digital photo frame. There was also a 01, but I’ve never seen that anywhere!

Looking at the old and new phones last weekend I feel docomo’s range is getting too confused. Looking at Panasonic, for instance (most of the Japanese manufacturers suffer from this), they have two basic clamshell designs (there’s also a third slider phone), but mix and match features, so you can have a touch-pad keyboard and two-way opening, but a low-end camera. Go for a higher mega-pixel count and you lose two-way opening and the inward camera, but get more emoji and a cartoon character theme. They all have basically the same price so it’s really an exercise in frustration trying to decide which to compromise on.

Oh, and the older models haven’t had any noticable price reduction even though they’ve been superceded.
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A recent survey from goo Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, looked at consumer games machines, the second regular look at this topic. I translated the first survey here two months ago.

Demographics

Between the 5th and 7th of November 2009 1,084 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.7% of the sample were male, 16.2% in their teens, 18.2% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, and 27.9% aged fifty or older.

Every time a console survey comes up I say I’ll have to buy a Wii, and today is no exception, especially as I was recently measured up as being officially metabo, or in English a fat git, so what better way to diet than to get a Wii Fit, with the new release having advanced options tailored towards trimming the waistline.
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Here’s an interesting look from goo Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, into USB-connected peripherals.

Demographics

Over the 12th and 13th of November 2009 1,077 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.3% of the sample were male, 16.5% were in their teens, 18.3% in their twenties, 21.4% in their thirties, 16.3% int heir forties, 15.2% in their fifties, and 12.2% aged sixty or older.

Note, many of the links in Q1SQ1 below link to fine Christmas stocking fillers like this one:

And some link to utter tat…
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I haven’t translated a survey on video cameras for a while, as perhaps they have been dropping off the radar since more and more still cameras, even SLRs, are coming with video functions, and as mobile phones and even some iPods have such features. So, to redress the balance, here is goo Research, as reported on by japan.internet.com, on video cameras.

Demographics

Over the 8th and 9th of October 2009 1,032 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was 52.6% male, 16.6% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.3% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.

One band I’d never heard of before, exemode, have, as illustrated in the picture above, a Neon Genesis Evangelion-themed camera DV230-EVA02 that in that orange and red colouring looks remarkably cheap and nasty, and the purple, lime green and black DV230-EVA01 is even nastier-looking! At about $100 for the camera, it definitely fits the “cheap” criterion. I strongly suspect that the cameras are Chinese designed and manufactured and then sold with a friendlier brand name, so one can draw one’s own conclusions about the “nasty” factor.
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