Advanced Micro Devices commissioned a survey from Benchmark Research in September of this year to back their belief that the centre of our digital home is the PC, not the mobile phone or hand held organizer. I can't find the original survey but a summary of the results is given by an article in the International Herald Tribune and also The Inquirer.
The respondents were over 500 home PC users from Sweden, Germany, France, the UK and Italy.
When asked which digital device they would most willingly give up, only 1 percent said they would give up their PC, and most opted to chuck their personal digital assistants out , although the British were the most reluctant to bin their PDAs (not this Brit. Biggest waste of 300 quid I ever spent). Landline phones were also high on the list of least wanted, with the Germans being most attached to their landlines. The French and Italians valued their digital music players, the Italians and Swedes their mobile phones and the French and Italians most wanted to keep their digital cameras. So the British are the road warriors, the Germans the homebodies and the Italians and French living up to their artistic stereotype?
The Italian respondents were the most likely to be offended by people sending large or badly formatted files according to the International Herald Tribune interpretation (The Inquirer read the research as being about badly formatted e-mails) and were the most eager for help with digital etiquette (82% saying they would appreciate it, compared to the average of 56%). The French were the most concerned about how they were perceived every time they send something, and the Germans and Swedes the least concerned. So the high context cultures (French and Italian) worry about the hidden messages in the way that electronic communications look whereas the low context German and Swedes don't see any hidden messages, and believe that what counts are the words themselves, however badly formatted or presented.
More confirmation of cultural stereotypes: The French don't like the fact people can get hold of them more easily (high power distance) while Brits and Swedes complain most about the time they waste waiting for the computer to do what it's told (so are the most monochronic).
Big debate in the comments after Russell Beattie's posting on a survey he'd just seen about Japanese mobile phone usage. I hesitate to add my few yen especially as I have been so focused recently on Japanese business communications and culture in general rather than mobile industry-specific research. The root of the disagreements seems to be a different understanding of culture.
I agree with Russell that some of the 'won't work here' attitudes in the West towards anything coming from Japan is rooted in an almost racist view of the Japanese as being a bit weird. This isn't the same as saying there are some aspects of Japanese culture which may need to be taken into account when predicting how far Western markets may follow the Japanese market. Culture is not about genetic differences but about the values you were brought up with.
At the same time, the other commenters who talk about cultural differences in terms of the amount of downtime Japanese have for using their phones for data when they are commuting on trains, or about how many Japanese first experience the internet from their mobile phones, are really talking about market differences.
There are some true cultural differences that are pointed out in amongst all the comments. For example, the strong social norm in Japan that you do not use your phone for voice calls on the train or even in cafes. This is part of the cultural value of being more group oriented than individualist. Japanese do not want to cause 'meiwaku' (annoyance) to others.
So, this is pretty much what Lars, Gen Kanai and Russell himself have pointed out in the comments. I would add one further cultural aspect which I think has helped the Japanese mobile market develop and I believe is hindering the European mobile markets, which is the way that Japanese industries collaborate up and down the supply chain in exchanging ideas and tacit understanding of how the industry should develop. It is not obvious whether it is a content provider, an operator or a handset maker who generates a new idea for a feature or site, because roles are kept vague and information is exchanged much more openly - other commentators have called this the Japanese mobile phone industry ecosystem. I have seen this kind of tacit understanding and blurred roles in other industries in Japan. There isn't the attitude of 'mine, all mine' that you get from some operators in the West.
An article which only just reached me from the Jan-Mar 2004 BBC Focus on Africa magazine by Sola Odunfa, lamenting the death of the traditional Nigerian phone conversation, thanks to the high charges per minute for mobile phone conversation. Apparently Nigerians used to exchange greetings for at least two minutes about the weather and their families before getting to the point. Now they get straight to the point, and ask 'how's the family?' right at the end, hanging up before the other person has a chance to respond.
A Japanese university surveyed the new graduate employees about their communication style in 2005, having previously surveyed a similar group in 2000, and found that the percentage of employees who would give their private mobile phone number to their boss had risen from 53% to 75% over the five years.
The Nikkei Business journalist Kobashi Akihiko (subscription only) speculates as to why this might have happened and wonders if mobile phones have stopped being such a private, intimate communication mode and are now equivalent to a fixed line in the household. He also wonders if it is now becoming the case that it is offensive if a mobile phone rings in a meeting not because a private communication has intruded into a public space but because a public communication has intruded into a private space. He even wonders if the fixed direct line phone in the office might now be the phone number that is only given to intimate acquaintances.
An amusing article from the San Jose Mercury on a survey which shows how electronic communication is making us all polychronic. Even the boss of the company who conducted the survey interrupted his own meeting with the journalist to answer a call from his mother. Reminds me of a previous posting of mine.
Hat tip to Techdirt News.