Smartphones Now the Main Way Japanese Interact with Internet

A majority of Japanese consumers and business users (54 percent) used smartphones  to access the internet compared with 49 percent using PCs and 19 percent tablets, a survey by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications finds.

That does not mean they “only” use smartphones. Nor does it mean most of the bandwidth consumed happened on smartphones, or necessarily that the amount of time spent on smartphones necessarily was greater than on  PCs and tablets. But that is suggested by other data.

source: eMarketer

In Japan, mobile devices now are used more than desktop devices to use the internet. And such statistics might not show the full story, as use of mobile apps often is not counted as "internet web" use, even if such apps virtually always require use of the internet.

Few would be surprised if told that the cost of using fixed communications services dropped in almost any market, over almost any time period. That was true within countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development from 1930 to 2005, for example, looking at the cost of international phone calls.

source: OECD

Broadband prices dropped 75 percent  globally between 2008 and 2011, according to the International Telecommunications Union.  The price of ICT services dropped by 30 percent globally between 2008 and 2011.

That was true for the five-year period between 1999 and 2004, in Japan, for example.

Most would likely not be surprised to find that spending on mobile alternatives has grown. That was true in Japan between 1999 and 2004, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Since 1999, spending by households on mobility services has grown 247 percent, while household spending on fixed communications has declined by 37 percent.

That does not speak to the cost per unit; only the amount of the product purchased. Obviously, mobility service is purchased by people, while fixed telephone service is purchased (generally) per household. So there are many more potential mobile accounts to be sold than fixed accounts, if only for that reason.

Nor would you be surprised to hear that younger age cohorts buy more mobility services and features than do older age cohorts, and that also is true in Japan.

source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications