CIAJ Releases Report on the Study of Mobile Phone Use

<August 26, 2009>

The business environment for cellular phone and PHS handsets has changed dramatically, with innovative new functions, slimmer and smaller designs, ever higher penetration rates and the implementation of new purchasing plans. Coupled with changes in consumer mind-set, the market is about to face a major turning point.
CIAJ conducted an annual study of cellular phone use and announces the release of this year’s study as follows.

This year’s report strives to capture the most recent user trends by adding topics which might lead to growth in the cellular phone market. These include replacement trends after the implementation of the new handset purchasing plans, ownership of multiple handsets and interest in new services and functions, such as video use.

This study has been conducted since 1998 to capture on-going changes in the domestic mobile communications market.

CIAJ mailed questionnaires to 600 cellular phones users (male: 293, female: 307; by age group, under 20: 98, twenties: 115, thirties: 104, forties: 94, fifties: 95, sixties and above: 94) residing in the larger Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas from the end of March through April of this year.
In past years, the fixed-point study was conducted in April to grasp the impact from the March sales peak. However, with the fast pace of changes in the recent market, this year’s study also includes findings from November as well.

<Use of new purchase plan>
55.7% of the respondents had used the new purchase plan. 44.3% had not made replacement or new purchases. Approximately two-thirds of those who had used the new purchase plan chose the “installment plan,” and the remaining approximately one-third chose the “single payment plan.”

<Longer purchasing cycles>
The average replacement purchase span rose 9 months from last year’s 24.7 months to 28.6 months.

<Intent to purchase replacement at the end of 2-year contract>
The replacement purchase span from the end of the 2-year contract under the new purchase plan becoming longer.

• Respondents who stated they would continue using the same handset after the end of their 2-year contract rose from 24.2% in April, 2008 to 40.8% in April 2009. The span which they intend to use the same handset after the end of their 2-year contract rose from 10.3 months in April, 2008 to 17.1 months in April, 2009.

<Price becomes more important factor at time of replacement purchase>
The important factor at the time of replacement purchase is moving away from design and functions and more towards price.

April, 2008
Focus on design 86.3%
Focus on color 70.9%
Focus on price 59.0%
Focus on built-in camera 58.0%

November, 2008
Focus on price 70.0%
Focus on design 49.8%
Focus on mobile carrier 29.3%
Focus on advanced function 25.8%

April, 2009
Focus on price 70.0%
Focus on design 49.8%
Focus on color 35.3%
Focus on size (dimension, weight, thickness) 25.2%

7.7% currently own a second Mobile phone, which is an increase of 1.4% over the previous year.

• 34.3% have a clear objective for wanting a second handset in the future.
  59.3% would own one for business and another for personal-use, and 40.7% would own the second device for a specific purpose, such as data transmission.

• Some conditions for purchasing a second mobile phone are “call rates for the second mobile phone is cheap” 57.5%, “the price of the second mobile phone is cheap” 40.9%, “need a function not available on my main mobile phone” 20.5% and “need a different design than main mobile phone” 10.4%.

• The desirable mobile phone type to be purchased as a second phone are “water-resistant” 24.2%, “voice and e-mail only” 19.8%, “small or slim size” 17.5%, “data card type” 11.7%, “smart-phone type” 10.6%, “designer handset” 10.3%, “the same type as the main-use handset” 6.7%, “video-camera type” 6.7%, “game-type” 4.7% and “fitness support phone” 1.1%.

22.0% “currently use their handsets to view videos,” 9.6% “would like to use the video function in the future” (currently not using video function: 78.0% x those who would like to use the function in the future: 12.7% = 9.6%), for a total of 31.6%. Those currently using the function are mainly in their teens and twenties.

Of the mobile phone functions and services used on a daily basis, approximately 90% answered “e-mail,” 60% answered “camera function,” and approximately 50% answered “decorated e-mail.”

• Functions and services used on a daily basis showing decreases over the previous year were: “e-mail,” “decorated e-mail” and “send photo as e-mail attachment.” This trend was especially prevalent among males 40 or older.

• There is a shift away from services which incur a communication fee, such as e-mail, camera, and internet use, towards functions which do not require communication fees, such as TV viewing and games. Because the survey questions ask only about daily use, it is likely there are respondents who have experienced the functions, but are no longer using it or are holding back their use because their contract is not a fixed price data plan.

• On the other hand, heavy users of these functions and services are further increasing the use, resulting in a move towards the two extremes.

  
  * Numbers in ( ) indicate results from 2008 study.

   

• 35.7% of respondents answered that they were “interested in using (or are already using) touch panel handsets, while 64.3% answered they “would not use it.”
• 16.8% of respondents answered they were “interested in using (or are already using) pure smart phones with full key boards, while 83.2% answered they would not use it.”
  • Smart phone functions which were of interest to those surveyed included “internet use/web surfing” 73.5%, “e-mail” 59.2% and “video player” 22.4%.
  • When asked about use with other cell phones, 63.4% responded they “would use together with another handset,” and 36.6% responded that they would “only use the smart phone.”

For details, contact:
Mr. Yagi
Products & Technologies Development
CIAJ
tel: 81-3-5403-9358  fax: 81-3-5403-9360  e-mail: t-yagi[at]ciaj.or.jp

For more general inquiries, contact:
Mr. Mano
Corporate Communication
CIAJ
tel: 81-3-5403-9351  fax: 81-3-5403-9360 e-mail: mano[at]ciaj.or.jp