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    Smartphones take lead over feature phones

    TOKYO, JAPAN: comScore, Inc has released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the Japan mobile phone industry during the three-month average period ending February 2012.
    Smartphones take lead over feature phones

    The study surveyed more than 4000 Japanese mobile subscribers and found Sharp to be the top mobile handset manufacturer overall with 23.5% market share. Google's Android platform accounted for the majority of smartphone market at 61.4%, followed by Apple with 34.2% of the market.

    "Smartphones surpassed feature phones as the most acquired device type in February 2012, signalling an important shift in Japan's mobile market," said Daizo Nishitani, vice president of comScore Japan KK. "The rise in smartphone adoption opens the door to tremendous opportunity for publishers and advertisers to expand their reach and increase engagement with key consumer segments through this channel. Japanese mobile phone users were already highly engaged with their devices, but with the added functionality and higher levels of mobile media consumption we should expect to see significant changes in behaviour among the Japanese mobile population in 2012."

    Sharp accounts for 1 in 4 mobile devices in Japan

    For the three-month average period ending in February, 101.7 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 23.5% of Japanese mobile subscribers, followed by Panasonic with 13.8% share. Fujitsu captured the #3 ranking in February with 11.8% of mobile subscribers, followed by NEC at 9.7% and Sony at 7.5% to round out the top five.

    Apple, which ranked as the eighth largest OEM in Japan with 6.5% market share, experienced the strongest gain among device manufacturers increasing 1.6 percentage points since November 2011.

    Top Mobile OEMs 3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2011 Total Japan Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+ (Source: comScore MobiLens)
    Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
    Nov-11 Feb-12 Point Change
    Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
    Sharp 24.6% 23.5% -1.1
    Panasonic 13.7% 13.8% 0.1
    Fujitsu 11.6% 11.8% 0.2
    NEC 9.8% 9.7% -0.1
    Sony 7.8% 7.5% -0.3

    Android accounts for majority of Japan's smartphone market, Apple sees strongest growth

    More than 19.3 million people in Japan owned smartphones during the three months ending in February, up 28% versus November. Android's share of the smartphone market reached 61.4%, while Apple ranked second with 34.2% of the smartphone market (up 1.3 percentage points versus November 2011), followed by Microsoft, which accounted for 3.9% in February 2012.

    Top Smartphone* Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2011 Total Japan Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+ (Source: comScore MobiLens)
    Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
    Nov-11 Feb-12 Point Change
    Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
    Android 61.0% 61.4% 0.3
    Apple 33.0% 34.2% 1.3
    Microsoft 5.7% 3.9% -1.8
    Other 0.3% 0.5% 0.2

    *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 57.6 million users accessed email on their phone, representing more than half of all mobile phone users. Japanese mobile owners were more likely to use an application (55.4%) than a mobile browser (52.4%), while 45.4% sent a text message to another phone during the month. Nearly 1 in 5 mobile users accessed social networking or blog sites on their phone, while slightly less (18.8%) watched TV or video.

    Selected Mobile Content Usage 3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2012 Total Japan Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+ (Source: comScore MobiLens)
    Total Audience (000) % of Total Mobile Audience
    Total Mobile Audience 101,700 100.0%
    Used email 57,616 56.7%
    Used application 56,327 55.4%
    Used browser 53,302 52.4%
    Sent text message 46,184 45.4%
    Accessed weather 34,652 34.1%
    Accessed search 30,464 30.0%
    Accessed news 23,732 23.3%
    Accessed social networking site or blog 19,793 19.5%
    Accessed maps 19,316 19.0%
    Watched TV and/or video on mobile phone 19,157 18.8%

    Source: comScore

    comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence.

    Go to: http://www.comscore.com
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