Japan's Smartphone Penetration Rate Tripled
By wchung | 04 Apr, 2026

The proportion of Japanese households using smartphones tripled to 29.3% at the end of 2011 from a year earlier, according to a government-sponsored poll.

During the same period the rate for personal-computer ownership declined to 77.4% from 83.4%. Some of that decline may be attributed to the increase in use of tablet computers from 7.2% to 8.5%.

Personal computers remained the means of internet access for 62.6% of respondents, followed by mobile phones at 52.1%, smartphones at 16.2% and tablets at 4.2%.

The poll was conducted in February on a sampling of 40,000 households headed up by individuals aged 20 or older by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Valid responses were obtained from 40% of households surveyed.