Hasta La Gadget!

This is the latest in a series of blogs based on the newsletters supplied by our research partner INterRIDE Inc.

2011 First Quarter Results for SNS Ad Sales

The numbers are in for the first quarter of 2011 and, although there were some effects from the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, sales and profits were up for the main social media players compared with the previous period. Mixi alone experienced a slight drop, perhaps suggesting that local users prefer games on GREE (who had a jump of 14%) and Mobage in these evolving times.

ARPU for SNS like mixi and Ameba is stronger due to their solid PC base. However, unlike gaming portals like Mobage and GREE the amount they can get from membership charges is very low (or zero), and INterRIDE speculates that as Ameba particularly develops its own games it will be able to turn these into cash.

All 4 major SNS (mixi, Mobage, GREE and Ameba) are seeing a decline in their feature phones membership and, predictably, an increase in smartphone users. This does not surprise given that some estimates show that smartphones make up 47% of all units currently shipped in the country.

Future Prospects for Japanese SNS

Of all the main players, mixi is distinct in that it is essentially only aiming for a domestic member base, and that on paper it’s most obvious competition is not even GREE, Mobage and Ameba — but Facebook. It currently has a strong female and student user base but INterRIDE believes that forthcoming services will focus more on businesses.

GREE’s success has overtaken Mobage and part of the reason may be down to its quicker response to smartphone opportunities. It now offers full data portability and, by partnering with OpenFeint overseas and its 75 million users, it is also aiming to be the world’s largest smartphone platform.

DeNA’s Mobage has invested in lots of TV advertising and its own games to generate revenue, as well as working with subsidiary ngmoco to push itself overseas. Meanwhile CyberAgent’s Ameba should start to concentrate on its iPhone platform GameWave as a way to catch up with the other gaming sites.

Mobile Suica for Android

JR East announced on May 23rd that train smartcard service Suica would become available on Android phones from July for models from all three carriers, NTT DoCoMo, au KDDI and Softbank.

The Suica of course is the transport-focused e-money service that can be used as a physical IC card to charge up and pass through ticket barriers in stations, as well as make payments at vending machines and normal stores (especially kiosks and convenience stores inside the stations).

We’ve talked about this so much over the years but it really is true: Japan led the world with integrating Suica (and other e-money) into mobile devices, with osaifu keitai (literally “wallet phone”) services meaning you could scan your cellphone on the barriers or reader at the shop counter.

With some 24 million users across Japan already using Mobile Suica, this not unexpected development means that even those with swanky new phones will still have access to this lifestyle tool so integral to local commuters.

Smartphones are for Girls

CyberAgent subsidiary CyberCasting & Pr have launched a smartphone app review site for girls. Girls Appli Navi makes use of 150 dokusha models (literally “reader models”: ordinary girls moonlighting as models) who give assessments on iPhone and Android. The models represent major fashion magazines like CanCam, AneCan and ViVi.

As the smartphone market expands in Japan it also morphs more and more with local fashion trends, and the key drivers are of course female consumers. Already we saw a “mook” magazine guide released this spring, WE Love SmartPhone, clearly intended for uber-kawaii fans, complete with a free Hello Kitty iPhone4 cover and produced by the fashion magazine S Cawaii!

Androidoll went online a month before Girls Appli Navi and seems more ambitious (despite only being for Android). It too offers reviews of apps and rankings based on the views of female models, but you can also create your own origin apps (photo albums, clock gadgets etc). These sites will no doubt prove valuable resources for market researchers like us when playing detective re. female mobile needs!

Related Posts:
Japan Mobile Marketing Round-Up 2
Japan Mobile Marketing Round-Up
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