Nielsen has released “Life with Mobile” a report on the condition of smartphone usage in Japan from April 2013 to April 2014. According to the report, users accessing to internet using smartphones increased 41% to become 40.55 million in the past year. Users accessing to internet using PCs decreased 9% to become 52.05 million.
*Figure on the right from the press material released by Nielsen
9 among the 15 categories classified by Nielsen, access from smartphone users outnumbered PC users. Those categories include Travel, e-commerce and entertainment. Especially in video services such as YouTube and Niconico Videos, included in the entertainment category, the number of access from smartphones and PCs became very close around February 2014. By April 2014, the access from smartphones exceeded PCs by 3 to 4 million for both of those video services.
Looking at the ratio of smartphone owners by age groups, 10’s and 20’s- nearly 70% already owned samrtphones a year ago, did not show significant change, however notable increase in older age groups were seen. 50% of 40’s and 30% of 50’s now own smartphones; ratio for the 50’s doubled compared with last year.
Nielsen analyzed that rapid increase of smasrtphone owners in 40’s and 50’s was a contributory factor of the growth of the samrtphone use in Japan, thus marketing personnel must consider “smartphone-first” when reviewing future measures.
Finally, the report indicated that the number of the users accessing to internet using smartphones increased 11.72 million (41%) during April 2013 to April 2014 and exceeded 40 million.
(Travel Voice Editorial Department)
