Smartphone Audience Grows 43 Percent since the Beginning of 2012
Nearly Two-Thirds of Japan’s Smartphone Population Uses an Android-Operated Device
TOKYO, JAPAN, August 21, 2012 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the Comscore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the Japan mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending June 2012. The study surveyed more than 4,000 Japanese mobile subscribers and found Sharp to be the top mobile handset manufacturer overall with 22.6 percent market share. Google’s Android platform accounted for the majority of smartphone market at 64.1 percent, followed by Apple with 32.3 percent of the market.
Sharp Leads as Top Device Manufacturer
For the three-month average period ending in June, 102.7 million people age 13 and older used mobile devices in Japan (feature phone and smartphone devices). Device manufacturer Sharp ranked as the top OEM with 22.6 percent of Japanese mobile subscribers, followed by Panasonic with 13.6 percent share. Fujitsu captured the #3 ranking in June with 11.8 percent of mobile subscribers, followed by NEC at 8.9 percent and Sony at 7.9 percent to round out the top five.
Top Mobile OEMs3 Month Avg. Ending Jun. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2012Total Japan Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+Source: Comscore MobiLens
Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
Mar-12
Jun-12
Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers
100.0%
N/A
Sharp
23.4%
22.6%
-0.8
Panasonic
13.8%
13.6%
-0.2
Fujitsu
11.9%
11.8%
-0.1
NEC
9.5%
8.9%
-0.6
Sony
7.2%
7.9%
0.7
Android Accounts for Majority of Japan’s Smartphone Market
More than 24 million people in Japan owned smartphones during the three months ending in June, representing 23.5 percent of the entire mobile population. Smartphone adoption has increased rapidly in 2012, growing 43 percent versus the end of 2011. Android’s share of the smartphone market reached 64.1 percent (up 1.9 percentage points versus March), while Apple ranked second with 32.3 percent of the smartphone market, followed by Microsoft, which accounted for 3.2 percent share in June 2012.
Top Smartphone* Platforms3 Month Avg. Ending Jun. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2012Total Japan Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+Source: Comscore MobiLens
Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
Total Smartphone Subscribers
Android
62.2%
64.1%
1.9
Apple
33.7%
32.3%
-1.4
Microsoft
3.7%
3.2%
-0.5
Other
0.4%
0.0
*Smartphones are defined as those phones that use the Android, Apple, Microsoft, RIM and Symbian platforms.
Mobile Content Usage
Analysis of selected activities consumers performed on their mobile phones found that 62.8 million users took photos with their phone, representing 61.1 percent of all mobile phone users. Japanese mobile owners were more likely to use an application (54.7 percent) than a mobile browser (50.8 percent), while 46.9 percent sent a text message to another phone during the month. 1 in 3 mobile users accessed weather information on their phone, while 29.9 percent accessed search during June.
Selected Mobile Content Usage3 Month Avg. Ending Jun. 2012Total Japan Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+Source: Comscore MobiLens
Total Audience (000)
% of Total Mobile Audience
Total Mobile Audience
102,700
Took photos
62,760
61.1%
Used email (work or personal)
57,529
56.0%
Used application
56,227
54.7%
Used browser
52,141
50.8%
Sent text message to another phone
48,139
46.9%
Accessed weather
35,796
34.9%
Accessed search
30,676
29.9%
Accessed news
24,625
24.0%
Accessed entertainment news
20,706
20.2%
Accessed sports information
19,831
19.3%
About MobiLens
MobiLens data is derived from an intelligent online survey of a nationally representative sample of mobile subscribers age 13 and older. Data on mobile phone usage refers to a respondent’s primary mobile phone and does not include data related to a respondent’s secondary device.
About Comscore
Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
Contact:Sarah RadwanickDirector, Regional Product MarketingComscore, Inc. +44 (0) 20 7099 1784worldpress@comscore.com