Very informal poll from a friend in Japan

[lamewing]

A friend in Japan did an informal survey in the area where he is attending school...Kansai Gaidai. Here is his email...

"Here are the results of the survey you asked me to do. Sorry it took so long, but I was trying to ask as many people as possible. The people I asked are Kansai Gaidai students

The Japanese students I talked to either like the iPod or Sony's minidisk. People like the iPod because they believed it was the best MP3 Player, but the Sony results were very interesting. Most of the students who chose Sony did it for nationalistic reasons. When asked why they chose Sony the answer, about 99% of the time, was "Sony is Japanese." When asked why they did not like the iPod the answer was "iPod is NOT Japanese." Only a couple said they think the Sony product is better. They others chose based on nationalism. "

Joe

[duancg]

Very interesting indeed! That again shows that MD is not for the "MASS"... it could if Sony did it right.

[Deanage]

"Nationalistic Reasons".

Strange, considering Sony is headed by a foreigner and also has it's head office in the U.S. It's like how some people in Australia call Holden a more Australian product than Mitsubishi, even though both manufacturers employ numerous Australians at their Australian design and assembly plants and Holden is GM owned.

Also, I spoke to my Japanese teacher the other day about the sort of MP3 players the Japanese use and most of the stuff comes from Korea. It helps when you only have to ship a product a few hundred kilometres (or kilometers, for the Americans in the forum), from a plant that pays thier staff a small percentage of what the American based companies must pay. Where are iPods made anyway?

Edited October 14, 2005 by PCManiac

[MZ-NH1]

Shivers!

That is a pretty good poll... like I mean even though it might be a bit bised, it shows why MD is popular... and what they like about it etc...

I think your friends should e-mail Sony about it quite seriously... to let them know what teenagers really think about the product.

If the only reason they are using it is because Sony is a Jap company... then Sony has A LOT of problems!

In Australia... if there was an Aussie manufactureed electronic device... chances are that not many people would buyt it UNLESS it was better than the current other goods on offer, or cheaper.... :|

I recon Sony is digging itself into a deep hole at this time on the ever expanding world we live in. They really need to start doing some market research into what people really want outa of portable electronics... and what people currently use their MD's for...

Edit*

Australia call Holden a more Australian product than Mitsubishi, even though both manufacturers employ numerous Australians at their Australian design and assembly plants and Holden is GM owned.

I just saw that!

Very good point mmm I don't know how to rebut that one ... but all I can say is that Holdens are affordable house hold cars as well as single movers... so they cater for ALL demographic areas in the market...are cheap, and reliable. Isn't Mitsubishi Jap made?? :S

[Deanage]

In Australia... if there was an Aussie manufactureed electronic device... chances are that not many people would buyt it UNLESS it was better than the current other goods on offer, or cheaper.... :|

Ha ha ha. I suppose I shouldn't laugh but that is typical Aussie buying habits. Who careswhere it comes from so long as it's cheap and/or good looking. Most Australian electronic manufacturing is industrial anyway. Clipsal, Bosch, MOTEC, etc

Isn't Mitsubishi Jap made?? :S

The new 380 is a wholly Australian product (so if it's no good then you know why ), but the ninja Lancer Evo series is Jap made. Half the stuff over here from Mitsu is built in the Adelaide plant though.

Pretty much all of Holden's small car range is Euro (Vauxhall, Opel) with the exception of the new Daewoo, er, Barina (it's all GM anyway). Most of the dumb, lumbering "big V6" and V8 models are Australian assembled with Chevrolet engines and foreign parts. Monaro (Pontiac GTO for all the US visitors), isn't being sold here anymore, only exported to the US. Who the hell wants a big V8 with petrol as it is?

By the way, the Mitsu 380 is 68% Oz made and the new Commodore (when it arrives), is 62% Oz made. It's quite funny when you tell that to a Commodore loving bogan who hates "Jap crap" (they're just scared they'll like Jap cars).

Anyways, we're WAY off the orignal topic. Back to the Hi-MD...

[Christopher]

Very interesting lamewing; thanks for spending the time to share this with us and for your friend doing some detective work! What music player does he see the most overall? Does he stop by MDCF?

[AMPlitude]

i must say that is a very interesting poll result

[smkranz]

Where are iPods made anyway?

I have ordered each of my kids' (3) iPods* directly from the Apple web site where you get free shipping and free custom engraving. They provide a tracking link in the shipping confirmation email...the package originates in Shanghai, China, first stop is Anchorage, Alaska, and it's generally here the following business day**. So...while I don't have one in front of me to confirm, I assume from this that they're made in China.

I also find it intriguing (as an American who has seen "made in USA" become virtually irrelevant to many others except myself) to note the apparently nationalistic Japanese buying interest. Of course, we should take the tale with a grain of salt because we don't know anything about how randomly the "poll" was conducted, how many people were asked, whether he asked only people he knew, or even how the iPod and MD actually fared against each other. But I have no doubt that the underlying premise is true, that the Japanese put at least some stock into buying stuff that is made there, or at least sold by a company that is perceived to be Japanese.

* I will point out that my oldest kid had a MD recorder years before iPods and other music players were all the rage. He still uses it to this day at college, to record himself practicing. So, he does have at least one redeeming quality (second to being my kid). The other two kids are over on the dark side...hook, line and sinker.

** The ordering & shipping process of Apple is remarkable and impressive. Order online and pay no shipping. (Yes, they do charge local sales tax. Don't know if that's just policy, or because Apple has multiple store locations in Maryland.) The iPods are custom engraved, packaged and perfectly shrink-wrapped as if you plucked it off a store shelf, shipped from China, and AT MY DOOR 4 business days after placing the order. While I *am* easily amused, that's pretty darn good.

[lamewing]

"Nationalistic Reasons".

Strange, considering Sony is headed by a foreigner and also has it's head office in the U.S. It's like how some people in Australia call Holden a more Australian product than Mitsubishi, even though both manufacturers employ numerous Australians at their Australian design and assembly plants and Holden is GM owned.

Also, I spoke to my Japanese teacher the other day about the sort of MP3 players the Japanese use and most of the stuff comes from Korea. It helps when you only have to ship a product a few hundred kilometres (or kilometers, for the Americans in the forum), from a plant that pays thier staff a small percentage of what the American based companies must pay. Where are iPods made anyway?

Ha!! Ha!!!

You might want to take what your Japanese instructor says with a grain of salt. After listening to my japanese instructor for 1.5 years and finally meeting more japanese folks who are younger (plus friends who now live in Japan) I have come to the conclusion that she really is out of touch with her own country. Sure she goes back every summer for three months, but she really is more Amercianized than she realizes.

smkranz,

I spoke with Chad-san and addressed some of your issues. He spoke with about 100 people. Almost all were college age (90%). The rest were parents, facuilty, and his home-stay family. About 65% would choose the Apple iPod over Sony DAPs/MD units.

Edited October 14, 2005 by lamewing

[yjs]

The Japanese really puzzle me. At one end they seem very nationalistic yet their entire pop culture is pretty much based on America worship...

[ynos]

I am confuse with that poll because most of my Japanese friends owned non-Japanese cars and audio system and they don't even have sony MD.

[Deanage]

I am confuse with that poll because most of my Japanese friends owned non-Japanese cars and audio system and they don't even have sony MD.

Would I be correct in guessing that most of your non-Japanese friends probably own Japanese stuff? That's usually the case for non-Japanese people. Think of something electronic you own and chances are it's Japanese. Canon cameras, Playstations, your television, the list keeps gong.

Do you live in America? I heard that it's a bitch to get a Japanese imported car in America. In Australia it's pretty easy so there's lots of Japanese imported cars (and electronics). It's possible to get a Nissan R32 Skyline GT-R here for less than AU$20,000 (crap condition though).

Over here most of the electronics come from the European market, rather than the U.S. or Japanese markets, so people buy electronics from Japanese companies with no worries. Japanese electronics also have a great reputation for reliability (like Toyota cars...). Also, American electronics have a, let's say, less than prestigious reputation over here compared to their reliable Japanese counterparts (except high-end audio; possibly the only industry where America make products that rival their European counterparts. My next Hi-Fi setup will be Mackie based).

When I say high-end audio I don't mean iPod, even though they're from an American based company. How a company with such an excellent reputation in the audio industry can make an audio product of such poor quality is beyond me. (Yes, I know there have been squillions of them sold but just 'cos something sells in high volumes doesn't mean it's any good. SUV's for example...).

[Dinko]

Some iPods (including the new ones) are made in Taiwan.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20051014PR204.html

[Ginger T]

Slight OT, but the poll is simular to ones for next gen games consoles. Most (in japan) will opt for the PS3 rather than the Xbox 360. Looking at recent Xbox sales in Japan (typically less than 150 a week) they (and other american vendors) will have a difficult time cracking that market.