Demographics

Both surveys were conducted between the 18th and 21st of December 2013. The map survey had 556 respondents, and the schedule one 560. All the respondents were pre-screened as smartphone users, and for the map survey 232 people, or 41.7% were iPhone users, and the remaining 324 people (58.3%) were Android users. No further demographic information was provided.

I don’t use maps on my private phone, and my wife serves as my calendar! She has both a smartphone and a standard feature phone, but she manages her schedule on the feature phone only, mainly because the battery life is better and it can do things like switch itself on when alarms ring.

Research results

Q1A: Which map app do you use the most? (Sample size=232, iPhone users)

Apple Maps	27.2%
Google Maps	47.0%
Other	15.9%
None	9.9%

Q1B: Which map app do you use the most? (Sample size=324, Android users)

Google Maps	71.6%
Other	9.9%
None	18.5%

The next question was for the 473 people who used map apps.

Q2: How satisfied are you with the map app you use the most? (Sample size=473, map users)

Satisfied	30.2%
Somewhat satisfied	57.3%
Somewhat dissatisfied	11.0%
Dissatisfied	1.5%

Q3: What kind of tool do you use the most to manage your schedule? (Sample size=560)

Smartphone app (to SQ)	50.2%
Paper schedule diary	30.7%
Computer calendar	19.1%
Paper calendar	18.0%
Other	2.0%
Don’t use any	20.2%

Q3SQ: What app do you use the most to manage your schedule on your smartphone? (Sample size=281)

Preinstalled app	40.6%
Jorte	21.0%
Yahoo! Calendar	10.3%
Lifebear	3.9%
Saisuke	3.2%
Other	21.0%

Demographics

Between the 18th and 21st of December 2013 560 members of the MMD Labo monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All the sample were 20 years old or more, and all had smartphones.

I reckon my most-used genre is games, and Candy Crush Saga in particular. SNS, Google+ specifically, comes a close second, however.

All the game links below lead to the Android version, if there is one. Only two titles appear to be iPhone only.

Research results

Q1: What genre of smartphone app did you use the most in 2013? (Sample size=560)

Free voice calls, chat	30.5%
SNS	14.5%
Game	9.5%
Weather	6.8%
Navigation	3.8%
Movie	3.6%
News	3.4%
Lifestyle	3.4%
Finance	2.7%
Work efficiency	1.8%
Photos, video camera	1.4%
Travel	1.4%
Electronic book, magazine	1.3%
Sports	0.7%
Dictionary	0.7%
Education	0.4%
Catalogue	0.2%
Health, fitness	0.2%
Business	0.2%
Medical	0.2%
Utility	0.2%
Entertainment	0.0%
Music	0.0%
Other	2.1%
None in particular	11.3%

Q2: Did you play any smartphone games in 2013? (Sample size=560)

Yes (to SQs)	52.5%
No	47.5%

Q2SQ2: What genre of smartphone game did you play the most in 2013? (Sample size=281)

Puzzle	48.0%
Virtual pet, virtual garden	7.1%
Simulation	6.4%
Action	5.3%
RPG	4.6%
Sports	3.9%
Quiz	3.9%
Adventure	3.2%
Trading card	3.2%
Education	2.1%
Table-top	1.8%
Shooting	1.8%
Escape	1.4%
Board	0.7%
Racing	0.7%
Trivia	0.7%
Coin (slot machine, etc)	0.4%
Defence	0.4%
Other	4.3%

Q2SQ2: Did you play any smartphone puzzle games in 2013? (Sample size=281)

Yes (to SQ3)	77.9%
No (to SQ4)	22.1%

Q2SQ3: Which smartphone puzzle game did you play the most in 2013? (Sample size=219)

Puzzle and Dragons	30.1%
LINE Pokopang	16.9%
LINE POP	11.9%
Candy Crush Saga	5.5%
LINE Bubble!	5.0%
Puyo-Puyo Quest	4.6%
Keri Hime Sweets	3.2%
Tetris Monster	1.8%
Escape Game DOOORS 3	0.9%
Romance of the Three Kingdoms Puzzle Great Battle	0.9%
Other	19.2%

Q2SQ4: Did you play any smartphone adventure games in 2013? (Sample size=281)

Yes (to SQ5)	31.0%
No (to SQ6)	69.0%

Q2SQ5: Which smartphone adventure game did you play the most in 2013? (Sample size=87)

Quiz RPG Mahoutsukai To Kuroneko No Wiz (Magic user and Black Cat Wiz)	33.3%
LINE WIND Runner	25.3%
Love Story! School Idol Festival	8.0%
Brave Frontier	8.0%
Monhan Daishuryou Quest	4.6%
Tokimeki Restaurant	4.6%
Legion War	3.4%
Treasure Detective Carrie	3.4%
Military RPG Blue Romance of the Three Kingdoms	1.1%
Thousand Memories	1.1%
Other	6.9%

Q2SQ6: Did you play any smartphone non-puzzle and adventure games in 2013? (Sample size=281)

Yes (to SQ7)	34.9%
No	65.1%

Q2SQ7: Which smartphone non-puzzle and adventure game did you play the most in 2013? (Sample size=98)

Dragon Quest VIII	19.4%
Rage of Bahamut	14.2%
Chain Chronicles	10.2%
Monster Strike	7.1%
Clash of Clans	5.1%
LINE Fish Island	5.1%
Sangokushi Rumble	4.1%
Gentou Senki (Mysterious Tower Military History) Griffon	3.1%
Gundam Conquest	2.0%
Legend of Monsters	2.0%
Other	24.5%

Demographics

For both surveys, between the 25th and 27th of November 2013 1,000 Android purchasers and 1,000 iPhone purchasers completed a private internet-based questionnaire. No further demographic information was presented.

One trend I’ve heard about informally is that there is a movement away from smartphones to owning two devices; a feature phone for voice calls and a tablet for web browsing. I’ve yet to see a survey on this aspect, but hopefully MMD Labo can cover this topic in the coming year.

Research results

Q1A: How satisfied are you with these aspects of your iPhone? (Sample size=1,000)

	Satisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Can’t say	Somewhat dissatisfied	Dissatisfied
Handset size	41.8%	41.8%	12.4%	3.4%	0.6%
Screen size	27.9%	42.8%	22.1%	5.8%	1.4%
Handset weight	33.7%	40.7%	20.9%	3.4%	1.3%
Battery life	17.1%	29.2%	24.5%	21.0%	8.2%
Ease of use	37.1%	40.1%	18.5%	3.1%	1.2%
Display quality	44.8%	41.0%	13.1%	0.8%	0.3%
Sound quality	28.0%	41.3%	28.2%	1.9%	0.6%
Design	41.7%	41.4%	15.5%	0.9%	0.5%
Camera functions	34.6%	42.9%	20.4%	1.7%	0.4%
Handset brand	45.6%	36.2%	16.7%	1.3%	0.2%

Q1B: How satisfied are you with these aspects of your Android? (Sample size=1,000)

	Satisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Can’t say	Somewhat dissatisfied	Dissatisfied
Handset size	31.0%	45.3%	17.2%	5.4%	1.1%
Screen size	36.2%	43.6%	15.7%	3.4%	1.1%
Handset weight	17.5%	37.1%	36.6%	6.8%	2.0%
Battery life	17.1%	27.2%	22.6%	21.8%	11.3%
Ease of use	17.4%	40.5%	28.8%	10.7%	2.6%
Display quality	28.0%	45.7%	23.0%	2.5%	0.8%
Sound quality	15.7%	36.6%	43.0%	3.4%	1.3%
Design	23.1%	42.3%	30.7%	2.7%	1.2%
Camera functions	19.6%	42.8%	31.7%	3.9%	2.0%
Waterproofing features	20.5%	37.0%	32.5%	4.5%	5.5%
Handset brand	24.3%	39.1%	31.3%	3.5%	1.8%

Q2: What was important when buying your smartphone? (Sample size=2,000, multiple answer)

	iPhone purchasers N=1,000	Android purchasers N=1,000
Ease of use	49.9%	35.0%
Handset brand	48.9%	26.4%
Design	40.8%	30.6%
Handset size	32.2%	31.5%
Display quality	31.2%	31.8%
Waterproofing features	–	26.0%
Battery life	24.2%	40.9%
Handset weight	20.3%	12.1%
Cheapness of handset	19.9%	25.2%
Largeness of display	16.5%	42.9%
Camera functions	14.2%	16.6%
Sound quality	7.1%	5.9%

Q3: Compared to your previous phone, which aspects are you more satisfied with? (Sample size=2,000, multiple answer)

	iPhone purchasers N=1,000	Android purchasers N=1,000
Ease of use	43.5%	30.4%
Display quality	36.3%	34.8%
Largeness of display	32.0%	50.3%
Design	29.1%	19.5%
Camera functions	27.9%	22.9%
Handset brand	27.3%	11.3%
Battery life	24.9%	34.1%
Handset weight	24.6%	9.4%
Handset size	23.8%	22.3%
Waterproofing features	–	18.7%
Sound quality	10.9%	8.1%

Q4: What would you like to have in your next smartphone? (Sample size=2,000, multiple answer)

	iPhone purchasers N=1,000	Android purchasers N=1,000
Long-life battery	51.2%	64.5%
Waterproofing, shockproofing, more robust handset	29.4%	34.5%
Design that raises brand awareness	27.8%	16.7%
Larger and easier to see display	25.7%	31.0%
High-performance camera, microphone, speakers	23.9%	25.3%
Minimal functionality, simple and cheap handset	16.8%	21.5%
Osaifu Keitai electronic cash, digital television, other feature phone functions	16.7%	27.6%
Completely new shape as a revolutionary advancement	14.2%	10.9%
Lots of different handset colours	13.6%	15.1%
Other	7.0%	7.8%
Nothing in particular	13.5%	9.2%

Mobile Marketing Data Laboratory recently conducted another survey that proved interesting despite the rather plain title of The use of smartphone camera apps.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 16th of November 2013 558 members of the MMD Labo monitor group completed a private internet-based questionniare. The respondents were aged 18 or older, and all were smartphone users, but further statistics were not presented.

The reason I mentioned the silent camera apps being worrying in the headline is that although I’m sure it is only intended for not scaring pets or babies, hardly a week in Japan seems to go by without a public servant being arrested for upskirt photos, so a silent camera is one way to get around the mandatory shutter noise that all phones in Japan must make.

Research results

Q1: How often do you take photos with your smartphone? (Sample size=558)

Often (to SQ1)	28.7%
Sometimes (to SQ1)	47.8%
Rarely (to SQ1)	20.4%
Never	3.0%

Q1SQ1: Have you downloaded any camera apps? (Sample size=541)

Yes, free ones only (to SQ2 onwards)	49.5%
Yes, paid ones only (to SQ2 onwards)	2.0%
Yes, both free and paid (to SQ2 onwards)	8.9%
No (to SQ3)	39.5%

Q1SQ2: Which camera apps do you often use? (Sample size=327, multiple answer)

LINE camera	38.8%
Instagram	20.5%
Muon (silent) camera	20.5%
Facebook camera	11.6%
Adobe Photoshop Express	10.4%
Manga camera	9.8%
PicCollage	6.1%
Gosei Shashin (Photo Mix)	6.1%
DECOPIC	5.8%
Chobioto 超微音 (really quiet) camera	5.5%
Papelook	4.0%
ProCamera 7	4.0%
BeautyPlus	3.1%
Pico Sweet	2.8%
Petapic	2.4%
Haikei Toumeika 背景透明化 (Transparent scenery)	1.8%
Other	17.7%

Q1SQ3: Do you share your photos to the following services? (Sample size=541)

	Yes, currently	Yes, previously	No	Not registered with service
LINE	48.8%	5.5%	15.0%	30.7%
Facebook	41.4%	8.3%	14.0%	36.2%
Twitter	34.0%	10.5%	18.9%	36.6%
Blog	15.2%	12.4%	11.5%	61.0%
mixi	13.3%	18.1%	15.0%	53.6%
Instagram	9.4%	4.8%	14.2%	71.5%
flickr	3.9%	3.7%	13.3%	79.1%
Foursquare	3.0%	2.4%	14.6%	80.0%
Tubmlr	3.0%	3.7%	14.2%	79.1%
Pinterest	2.8%	4.1%	12.9%	80.2%

Q1SQ4: Do you post-process your photographs? (Sample size=541)

Yes, always (to SQ5)	5.0%
Yes, sometimes (to SQ5)	33.8%
Not really (to SQ5)	18.5%
No, never	42.7%

Q1SQ5: How do you post-process your photographs? (Sample size=310, multiple answer)

Adjust the size	74.2%
Apply colour filter	43.5%
Add frame	36.1%
Add bitmap stamp	28.7%
Add text	12.9%
Use skin-enhancement tool	12.3%
Other	6.5%

Other actions included adding a mosaic and cropping

Demographics

Between the 13th and 15th of November 2013 558 members of the MMD Labo monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All the people were smartphone users, and the demographics say that the sample was aged between 20 and 59 years old, but looking at Q1 I can see that 18 and 19 year olds, and those 60 or older were also questioned. No further demographic information was provided.

Talking of walking with smartphones, Japan Times recently stretched the definition of “news” rather too far with the author of this piece suggesting that negative press about walking with smartphones was a plot by Japan Inc. to spoil the iPhone 5s and 5c launch.

I don’t believe in coincidences. From Sept. 20, NTT Docomo, Softbank and au all began selling Apple’s newest-model iPhones, and I suspect the big difference is that foreign brands are threatening to expand their dominance of the market. So behind this wave of complaints is wounded national pride and concerns that Japanese firms are being nudged out of their own (very lucrative) market.

What a load of nonsense, but sadly reflective of the current editorial bent of newspaper, and also not the worst nonsense they have printed under a “news” headline.

Research results

Q1: Are you addicted to your smartphone? (Sample size=558)

	Yes	Perhaps	Perhaps not	No
All	14.2%	34.4%	34.9%	16.5%
Male	12.5%	31.4%	38.2%	17.9%
Female	15.8%	37.4%	31.7%	15.1%
18-19 years old	18.2%	43.2%	28.4%	10.2%
Twenties	29.5%	35.2%	23.9%	11.4%
Thirties	15.8%	39.5%	33.3%	11.4%
Forties	8.9%	36.6%	38.4%	16.1%
Fifties	5.6%	28.9%	40.0%	25.6%
Sixty or older	6.1%	16.7%	48.5%	28.8%

Q2: Do you use your smartphone while walking? (Sample size=558)

Usually (to SQ1)	21.1%
Sometimes (to SQ2)	36.0%
Rarely (to SQ2)	30.1%
Never (to SQ2)	12.8%

Q2SQ1: Have you had an accident, got injured using your smartphone while walking? (Sample size=118)

Yes	22.9%
No	77.1%

Q2SQ2: Have you had an accident, got injured using your smartphone while walking? (Sample size=487)

Yes	8.8%
No	91.2%

Q3: How much of a nuisance are people who use their smartphones while walking? (Sample size=558)

Always a nuisance	33.2%
Sometimes a nuisance	45.0%
Rarely a nuisance	18.5%
Never a nuisance	3.4%

Demographics

Between the 28th of October and the 3rd of November 2013 1,082 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.8% of the sample were male, 13.8% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 21.3% in their thirties, 17.2% in their forties, 14.8% in their fifties, and 17.5% aged sixty or older.

I manage to get three or four days out of a charge of my smartphone, but that is due to me only using it as an alarm clock, for occasional email and a couple of minutes of surfing per day.

Research results

First of all, 52.5% of the sample, or 568 people, owned a smartphone. They were asked the following question.

Q1: About how often do you recharge the smartphone you usually use? (Sample size=568)

Less than once a day	21.5%
Once a day	47.5%
Twice a day	21.5%
Thrice or more a day	9.5%

Q2: When at school, work, public places, etc, do you normally recharge your phone? (Sample size=568)

Yes, and carry a charger	26.8%
Yes, but don’t carry a charger	5.6%
No	67.6%

Q3: Have you ever had a problem due to your smartphone battery running flat when away from home? (Sample size=568)

Yes (to SQ)	62.5%
No	37.5%

Q3SQ: Which of the following have you done when your smartphone battery ran flat? (Sample size=355, multiple answer)

Just gave up on using phone	49.9%
Use an external battery	46.5%
Recharge at a mobile phone shop	16.1%
Recharge at a wall socket in a cafe, fast food place, etc	15.2%
Other	3.7%

Demographics

Between the 11th and 15th of October 2013 995 members of the MMD Labo monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All of them had purchased a mobile phone between April and September of 2013, and all were aged over 18 but under 65 years old, but no further demographics were given.

Note that regarding Q1SQ2, docomo only sells the newer iPhones 5s and 5c, yet even though they only came out on the 20th of September, they made up nearly 20% of docomo’s sales in just 5% of the half-year measured! They also made up nearly 25% of SoftBank’s sales, but that could be explained by people holding off upgrading until the new model came out.

Research results

Q1: Which did you buy within the last six months, a feature phone or a smartphone? (Sample size=995)

Feature phone	18.0%
Smartphone (to SQ1)	82.0%

Q1SQ1: Which carrier did you buy your smartphone from? (Sample size=816)

docomo (to SQ2)	31.9%
au (to SQ3)	34.7%
SoftBank (to SQ4)	33.5%

Q1SQ2: Which docomo smartphone did you buy? (Sample size=260)

Sony Xperia A SO-04E	26.2%
Apple iPhone 5s	15.8%
Samsung Galaxy S4 SC-04E	10.4%
Sony Xperia Z SO-02E	6.5%
Other Sony Xperia	4.6%
Apple iPhone 5c	3.8%
Toshiba Arrows NX F-06E	3.5%
Toshiba Arrows X F-02E	3.1%
Panasonic Eluga P P-03E	3.1%
Other Toshiba Arrows	2.7%
Other	20.2%

Q1SQ3: Which au smartphone did you buy? (Sample size=283)

Apple iPhone 5	23.0%
Sony Xperia UL SOL22	12.0%
Apple iPhone 5s	11.0%
Sharp Aquos Phone Serie SHL22	10.6%
Other Sony Xperia	7.4%
Kyocera Urbano L01	7.4%
Sharp Aquos Phone Serie SHL21	4.9%
Apple iPhone 5c	3.9%
HTC J One HTL22	3.2%
Apple iPhone 4S	2.1%
Other	14.7%

Q1SQ4: Which SoftBank smartphone did you buy? (Sample size=273)

Apple iPhone 5	51.3%
Apple iPhone 5s	19/8%
Sharp Aquos Phone Xx 203SH	4.0%
iPhone 5c	3.7%
Sharp Aquos Phone Xx 206SH	3.7%
Apple iPhone 4S	2.9%
Sharp Simple Smartphone 204SH	2.6%
Sharp Aquos Phone ss 205SH	1.8%
Toshiba Arrows A 201F	1.5%
Sharp Pantone ® 6 200SH	1.5%
Other	7.4%

Q2: Which kind of mobile phone did you previously use? (Sample size=995)

Feature phone (to SQ)	51.4%
Smartphone	47.2%
None	1.4%

Q2SQ: Which kind of mobile phone did you upgrade to? (Sample size=511)

Feature phone	31.5%
Smartphone	68.5%

If we combine Q1, Q2 and Q2SQ, we get the following. Note that I cannot deduce the exact numbers for upgraders from smartphones due to insufficient data in this report.

Q1+Q2+Q2SQ: Which kind of mobile phone upgrade did you do? (Sample size=995)

Feature phone to feature phone	16.2%
Feature phone to smartphone	35.2%
Smartphone to feature phone	0.4% to 1.8%
Smartphone to smartphone	45.4% to 46.8%
New purchase, not upgrade	1.4%

Q3: What dissatisfactions do you have regarding purchasing your new mobile phone? (Sample size=995, multiple answer)

Difficult to understand the pricing stucture	33.3%
Options got bundled with the plan	29.9%
There was a long waiting time	25.7%
Difficult to understand the various services	21.8%
Difficult to know which handset is the best	16.2%
Difficult to move my data across	12.2%
Difficult to understand the sales staff	11.8%
Device was out of stock	9.9%
Few working devices to help me choose	9.0%
Other	4.2%
Have no dissatisfactions	24.7%

Demographics

Over the 25th and 26th of October 2013 2,204 members of the MMD Labo monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All of the sameple were over the age of 15, but further demographics were not forthcoming.

Nokia have also recently announced a Surface 2 tablet (non-Pro means it runs on ARM, so doesn’t support legacy Windows programs) that sounds rather good, but the price is still borderline for my wallet once my netbook finally expires, especially once the keyboard price is factored in. I’ve also recently converted by netbook to Linux, so if it did expire, I’d probably be in the market for a (second-hand?) low-end net/notebook to bung Linux on.

Back to the survey, I was surprised to see that the desire to purchase was only 50% or less than the desire to buy a new iPad. I’d have thought the Surface has a much more business-oriented image but not quite good enough yet to replace a MacBook or an Ultrabook.

Research results

Q1: Did you know that the launch of the new Surface in Japan had been announced? (Sample size=2,240)

	All	Tablet owners N=525	Tablet non-owners N=1,679
Yes	30.5%	60.2%	21.3%
No	69.5%	39.8%	78.7%

Q2: Do you want to buy the Surface 2? (Sample size=2,240)

	All	Tablet owners N=525	Tablet non-owners N=1,679
Want to buy	2.5%	6.5%	1.3%
Might want to buy	5.8%	10.7%	4.2%
Can’t say	33.2%	35.4%	32.5%
Don’t really want to buy	13.7%	16.0%	12.9%
Don’t want to buy at all	44.8%	31.4%	49.0%

Q3: Do you want to buy the Surface Pro 2? (Sample size=2,240)

	All	Tablet owners N=525	Tablet non-owners N=1,679
Want to buy	3.0%	7.8%	1.5%
Might want to buy	8.2%	16.8%	5.5%
Can’t say	32.7%	34.3%	42.2%
Don’t really want to buy	13.2%	15.2%	12.6%
Don’t want to buy at all	42.8%	25.9%	48.1%

Demographics

Over the 23rd and 24th of October 2013 4,414 members of the MMD monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was of both sexes over the age of fifteen, but no further information was provided.

I won’t be buying an iPad, as I do not like Apple devices. I’ve used one at work recently, but after coming from Android I find it too restrictive, and only one button takes a bit of time to get used to. Furthermore, from a developer perspective, signing issues are a pain and their IDE, XCode, is not intuitive at all.

Note that in Q3SQ and Q4SQ, docomo have not announced whether or not they will be selling the new iPads, but MMD Labo asked the question anyway.

Research results

Q1: Do you have a tablet device? (Sample size=4,414)

Yes	24.0%
No	76.0%

When asked what tablet they had, the most popular was the iPad (including mini, I presume) with 49.0% of the 24.0% owning one, then a Nexus at 12.3% and Xperia at 4.2%.

Q2: Did you know that the iPad and iPad mini Retina Display had been announced? (Sample size=4,414)

	All	Tablet owners N=1,058	Not tablet owners N=3,356
Yes	53.9%	80.1%	45.6%
No	46.1%	19.9%	54.4%

Q3: Do you want to buy an iPad Air? (Sample size=4,414)

	All	Tablet owners N=1,058	Not tablet owners N=3,356
Want to buy (to SQ)	6.0%	13.5%	3.6%
Perhaps want to buy (to SQ)	12.7%	19.2%	10.7%
Can’t say	31.4%	31.8%	31.3%
Don’t really want to buy	14.4%	12.6%	15.0%
Don’t want to buy	35.5%	23.0%	39.5%

Q3SQ: What kind of connectivity do you want for an iPad Air? (Sample size=825)

Wi-Fi only	49.9%
docomo cellular	10.7%
au cellular	11.4%
SoftBank cellular	13.2%
Don’t know	14.8%

Q4: Do you want to buy an iPad mini Retina Display? (Sample size=4,414)

	All	Tablet owners N=1,058	Not tablet owners N=3,356
Want to buy (to SQ)	5.7%	13.6%	3.2%
Perhaps want to buy (to SQ)	11.7%	17.4%	9.9%
Can’t say	31.8%	31.5%	31.9%
Don’t really want to buy	14.9%	14.6%	15.0%
Don’t want to buy	35.9%	23.0%	40.0%

Q4SQ: What kind of connectivity do you want for an iPad mini Retina Display? (Sample size=768)

Wi-Fi only	49.5%
docomo cellular	9.9%
au cellular	12.2%
SoftBank cellular	13.4%
Don’t know	15.0%

Demographics

Between the 30th of September and the 3rd of October 2013 1,087 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.7% of the sample were male, 13.8% in their teens, 15.5% in their twenties, 21.8% in their thirties, 17.2% in their forties, 19.6% in their fifties, and 12.1% aged sixty or older.

I’ve got a bunch of free ebooks of Japanese classic novels downloaded from Google Play, but I’m yet to start reading them… I’ve always wanted to get an e-paper reader, although I don’t really know how much I’d actually use it.

Research results

Q1: Have you ever read an electronic book, magazine? (Sample size=1,087)

Yes	34.3%
No (to SQ1)	65.7%

Q1SQ1: Would you like to read an electronic book, magazine? (Sample size=714)

Yes	31.1%
No (to SQ2)	68.9%

Combining these two we get:

Q1+Q1SQ1: Have you ever read an electronic book, magazine? (Sample size=1,087)

Yes	34.3%
No, but want to	20.4%
No, and don’t want to (to SQ2)	45.3%

Q1SQ2: Why Wouldn’t you like to read an electronic book, magazine? (Sample size=492, multiple answer)

Prefer paper books, magazines	42.5%
They are awkward and difficult to read	42.1%
Sufficiently satisfied with paper books, magazines	35.2%
Just don’t read books, magazines	25.0%
Specialised ebook readers are expensive	15.9%
Electronic books, magazines are expensive	10.2%
No electronic books, magazines I’m interested in	8.9%
Other	2.0%

Finally, it was determined that 27 people, or just 2.5% of the original sample, owned a dedicated ebook reader. They were asked the following.

Q2: Which ebook reader do you currently use? (Sample size=27)

Kindle (Amazon)	44.4%
kobo (Rakuten)	33.3%
Reader (Sony)	7.4%
BookPlace (Toshiba)	7.4%
Lideo (BookLive, etc)	0.0%
Galapagos (Sharp)	0.0%
Nook (Barnes and Noble)	0.0%
Other	7.4%