Japanese mobile market grows 26.8% in 2Q13

The Japanese mobile market increased by 26.8% in the second quarter of the year, says a report by IDC.

This huge increase is mostly due to demand for the iPhone 5S/5C, but tablets also saw an increase, reaching a growth of 92% for the year.

12.3m mobile devices were sold in the second quarter of the year, meaning a year growth of 14.7%, while PC sales did not record growth.

The report also contained a forecast of the Japanese mobile device market, comprising of PCs, smartphones, tablets, mobile cards and personal routers.

This predicts the market will have a growth of 7.5% in 2013, reaching 56.1m units.

“Looking forward, in the short term, the smartphone market will surge again because NTT docomo, the largest operator in Japan, has decided to launch iPhone 5s/5c from third quarter in 2013,” said Michito Kimura, senior market analyst, PC, Mobile & Client Solutions, IDC Japan. 

Ashley Madison launched in Japan in June, having their “most successful launch ever” – with half a million members joining in three months.

IDC also reported that China’s smartphone shipments are growing by 10% on a quarterly basis.

With this growth in the mobile market, we will surely see dating apps to start taking note of the huge opportunities available in Asia.