Is there any information anywhere on the "survey" methodology? I can't tell whether they just asked store clerks for their opinions, or were actually getting hard data somehow. Reading between the lines on this one doesn't cut it.
Yes, there is. The underlying survey is described here. With pictures. Short version: this is automatically gathered data from all the stores in participating chains.
According to this survey, cellphone sales are plummeting in Japan but sales of smartphones have grown 80% in the past year
Are they considering cellphones and smartphones as separate categories somehow? If not, I'm wondering if phone sales are just changing due to the economic situation, or a change in behavior...
In the past in Japan, the carriers subsidized the cost of new phones, so people regularly upgraded their phones. However, recently regulations have been introduced to prevent this, and thus consumers have had to bare the full cost of new handsets. As such, there has been a drop in overall handset sales.
Smartphones are considered subset of cellphones. Probably decreasing sales of cellphones is due to the economy while increasing sales of smartphones are due to a change in behavior.
I'll provide anecdotal support. I've seen a huge increase in the number of normal Japanese people (not expats, etc.) with iPhones in the last 6 months.
When it was first released here, it was pretty much only the foreigners but something shifted.
More and more Japanese people that I speak with say they have a hard time even considering anything else but an iPhone now and, to be sure, the Japanese handsets look pretty boring in comparison. That is not an easy feat considering the head start the Japanese mobile market had before the iPhone arrived.
continuing with RK, natch, and patio11, I'd really like to know more about the survey parameters. For instance...
1. Does anyone know which stores were surveyed?
2. Did it include stores that do not carry iphones (Are there such stores in Japan)?
3. how was sampling conducted (e.g. only certain metro areas)?
4. how did the responding stores compare with the overall sample/population? For example, did a disproportionate ratio of stores carrying iphone respond?
