Japanese research firm Japan.internet - in partnership with NTT.com Research - published the results of a regular survey which showcases the usage of consoles and purchasing intention of consumers in Japan (if you’re fluent in Japanese, you can read it here)
1,072 people responded to the survey, who were all internet users. 53.5% surveyed were male, 46.5% female and 48.1% of them owned at least one games console, be that home or portable consoles.
The distribution of those who owned consoles were as followed:
Nintendo DS/3DS: 55.2%
Wii/Wii U: 43.0%
PlayStation 2: 40.9%
PlayStation 3: 34.3%
PlayStation Portable: 33.9%
Super Famicom: 23.8%
PlayStation: 20.2%
Famicom: 15.3%
Gameboy: 15.3%
Gameboy Advance: 15.1%
Nintendo 64: 14.9%
Nintendo Gamecube: 10.9%
PlayStation Vita: 8.3%
Xbox 360: 5.6%
PlayStation 4: 4.5%
Dreamcast: 4.5%
Xbox: 2.1%
PSPgo: 1.2%
Xperia Play: 0.2%
Other: 1.4%
The most interesting thing about the results are the grip past-generations of consoles seem to have on the Japanese consumer, especially the PlayStation 2 which is still going strong in 3rd place. The PlayStation 4 has a place in less than 5% of households and Xbox consoles combined only have a place in 7.7%, though it’s important to note that the Xbox One only came out in the region this week (not that it’s likely to make a big difference). The top spots go to Nintendo’s DS and Wii brands, who have been put into groups collectively and can be found in around half of households.
In regards to purchasing intentions, it seems that 71.7% of respondents aren’t interested in the PlayStation 4, 21.0% are interested in the console, but don’t want to buy it and 7.9% want to buy the console. The numbers are similar for the Xbox One, with 85.1% not wanting to buy, 11.5% not wanting to buy, but interested and 3.5% looking to purchase it.
Looking at the data as a whole, there is massive potential for the sales of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One could be looking to do some solid work as well. With a population of 127 million - and if everyone interested in buying a console does get one - that’s over 10 million PlayStation 4’s looking to still be sold and nearly 4.5 million Xbox One’s, which would double the number of units sold worldwide for both consoles since their release.
