Around a quarter of Japanese mobile phone users now own a smartphone, with Sharp as the leading manufacturer and Android as the top OS, reports comScore.
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 OEMs
| | Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers |
|---|
| Mar-12 | Jun-12 | Point Change |
|---|
| 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 Platforms
| | Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers |
|---|
| Mar-12 | Jun-12 | Point Change |
|---|
| Android | 62.2% | 64.1% | 1.9 |
| Apple | 33.7% | 32.3% | -1.4 |
| Microsoft | 3.7% | 3.2% | -0.5 |
| Other | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.0 |
*Smartphones are defined as those phones that use the Android, Apple, Microsoft, RIM and Symbian platforms.
