世論 What Japan Thinks

Mobile Marketing Data Labo recently conducted their second regular survey into using one’s personal smartphone at work, or BYOD, Bring Your Own Device, as it is commonly known as.

Demographics

Between the 19th and 22nd of August 2013 1,002 members of the MMD monitor group who used a personal smartphone in a business setting completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The only demographic information provided was that they were all aged between 20 and 49 years old.

Our company’s policy is that BYOD is forbidden in general, but with special exceptions for reading email via a thin client-style application that ensures no messages are ever saved locally. However, this survey shows that there are very few companies with formal policies in place, which I strongly feel is a disaster waiting to happen.
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\goo Research published a detailed report on a survey they conducted into Apple’s iPhone, with a particular focus on the largest carrier in Japan, Docomo, and their plan to carry the new iPhone5s and iPhone5c, their first foray into Apple phones.

Demographics

Between the 13th and 17th of September 2013 1,765 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.6% of the sample were female, 7.5% in their teens, 12.5% in their twenties, 15.9% in their thirties, 14.8% in their forties, 14.4% in their fifties, and 34.9% aged sixty or older. The percentages in each age band and both sexes reflected the results of the 2010 Census.

Again, I am quite stunned by the positive view of the general public here of the iPhone. In Q3Q3, note that in the top eight answers, only one answer is perhaps related to the quality of Android, whereas the top three in Q3Q1 seem to relate directly to the iPhone’s qualities.
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Macromill Research conducted a survey into the attractions of the iPhone which revealed some rather interesting data.

Demographics

On the 11th of September 2013 between the hours of 7 pm and 9 pm 2,000 members of the Macromill online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The respondents were between the ages of 15 and 69 years old, and the sex and age demographics were (if I understand the Japanese term correctly!) distributed equally, as Macromill usually do; 50:50 male and female, and a sixth in each age band from teens to sixties.

Personally, I dislike the iPhone as it feels too rigid an ecosystem, everyone has one, and I’m just not an Apple fan, and particularly not a fan of Apple fans! Looking at the data, I can now understand why docomo decided to join the other two carriers and start selling Apple’s device.
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Life Media’s Research Bank recently conducted a survey into the free chat app LINE. The report linked to on japan.internet.com is just some highlights, but the full report is available on Life Media’s site.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 26th of August 2013 2,000 members of the Research Bank monitor group who were smartphone owners completed a private internet (most likely via smartphone) questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:0 male and female, and 20:20:20:20:20 for the age groups of teens, twenties, thirties, forties and fifty-pluses.

I avoid LINE because I worry about the fact that it slurps your address book up to their servers, and anyway I prefer Google Hangouts, not that I use that much anyway.
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japan.internet.com reported on a recent survey by goo Research looking at electronic text-based communication, the second time such a survey has been performed; the first survey was also presented on this blog in May.

Demographics

Between the 5th and 9th of August 2013 exactly 1,000 mobile phone- (including smartphone-) using members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private mobile phone internet-based questionnaire. 56.8% of the sample were female, 1.4% in their teens, 20.4% in their twenties, 36.5% in their thirties, 26.5% in their forties, and 15.2% aged fifty or older.

I did say in the last report that I found the SMS figure hard to believe, but other people argued that it was realistic, although I can’t say I was terribly convinced.

Note that the implication of this survey is for private messaging, not public postings to SNS or comment threads.
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Cross Marketing recently conducted a survey into iPhone5 satisfaction levels, and interestingly choosing to contrast satisfaction levels between users of the two carriers who offer the phone, au and SoftBank.

Demographics

Between the 19th and 21st of July 2013 1,000 iPhone5-owning members of the Cross Marketing monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 500 of the users had au by KDDI as their carrier, and 500 had SoftBank. The ages of the sample ranged from 18 to 59 years old, but no further demographic information was provided.

SoftBank have been putting a lot of effort into stressing how their network has improved – indeed, I have previously presented statistics showing how good they are – and the message seems to be getting through with satisfaction ratings being higher in almost every category as seen below.

Here SoftBank explain the concept of “Connecting”, assisted by Shinji Kagawa of Manchester United and Bob Sapp, an ex-American Football player:

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japan.internet.com recently reported on a survey conducted by goo Research into weather forecasts, and in their report they focused on smartphone weather-related apps.

Demographics

Between the 26th and 30th of July 2013 1,066 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.5% of the sample were male, 14.0% in their teens, 15.3% in their twenties, 21.4% in their thirties, 16.9% in their forties, 15.0% in their fifties, and 17.4% aged sixty or older.

I don’t have any weather apps on my smartphone – they are a waste of packets, and furthermore my wife sends me a photo of the weather forecast on the television at lunch time and early evening. However, I’ve recently got a company phone, and the Google Now local weather forecast is useful, but I suspect once the novelty factor wears off I’ll stop using it.
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Mobile Marketing Data Laboratory recently continued their look at feature phone users, a follow-up to an earlier report on the first half of that survey that I translated here.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 24th of June 2013 992 members of the MMD monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All of them currently used a feature phone, and 331 were with docomo, 330 with au, and 331 with SoftBank as their mobile carrier. Their ages were between 15 and 69.

Note that this survey is a continuation of the previously-mentioned survey, and starts with the 204 people who answered in Q1 that they had plans to buy a smartphone sometime in the future.
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A recent survey from Mobile Marketing Data Laboratory looked at feature phone users.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 24th of June 2013 992 members of the MMD monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All of them currently used a feature phone, and 331 were with docomo, 330 with au, and 331 with SoftBank as their mobile carrier. Their ages were between 15 and 69.

From other surveys, feature phones make up just over 50% of the existing phones in circulation, although new smartphone sales outpace existing phone sales.

My wife still has a feature phone, and she’s in no rush to upgrade; she likes the idea of a smartphone for web browsing, but is reluctant to leave behind the physical keypad for email.
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japan.internet.com reported on a recent survey by goo Research into smartphone cases.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 24th of June 2013 1,078 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.1% of the sample were male, 13.6% in their teens, 15.7% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 17.2% in their forties, 14.9% in their fifties and 17.1% aged sixty or older.

Note that a previous survey had found that a vast majority own smartphone cases.

I don’t have one for mine, and it’s only ever had a couple of minor spills out of my pocket onto carpeted floors.
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