In the Multi-Device Era "Comparison of Home vs. On-the-Go Usage"

〈 Publication Date: June 14, 2011 〉

The first half of 2011 saw major companies complete their lineups of tablet devices alongside smartphones, making it clear that the digital media industry is poised for a shift. According to a February 2010 announcement by the mobile industry association GSMA (CEO Rob Conway), the total number of smartphones worldwide is projected to surpass that of PCs by 2013. Going forward, the proliferation of these devices in Japan will not only evolve but fundamentally change the nature of media content and communication styles.

This study compares traditional mobile devices like "mobile phones and PHS" and "notebook PCs" with smart devices such as "smartphones" and "tablet PCs" to explore the changing patterns of device usage.

To clarify when and in what scenarios smartphones and tablet devices are used, we conducted a survey targeting owners of the following five types of devices, selected from 5,000 internet users aged 15 and older.

① Desktop PCs
② Laptop PCs, netbooks, mobile PCs
③ Tablet PCs
④ Mobile phones, PHS
⑤ Smartphones

Regarding usage ratios (at home or outside) for each device: While mobile phones and PHS showed nearly equal usage at home (home total) and outside (outside total), smartphones had a higher proportion of outside usage.
Furthermore, many tablet PC users primarily use their devices at home (see the red dotted line section). To expand tablet PC usage outside the home, it will be more necessary than ever to develop user-friendly apps that transcend OS and device boundaries, and to invigorate business scenario usage.

Q. Where do you use your electronic devices?