Japan

Although sales declined slightly in 2022, RTDs had been recording strong growth in the previous years of the review period. RTDs have been experiencing a surge in popularity within Japan's alcoholic drinks market due to their convenient and…

Japan finally eased its various regulations around COVID-19 in 2023. This has had a significant impact on the travel industry in 2023, not only in terms of deregulation, but also in terms of changes in consumers’ perception of and behaviour towards…

Lagging slightly behind many other countries globally, Japan finally eased its various regulations around COVID-19 in 2023. This has been very significant for the travel industry, not only in terms of deregulation, but also in terms of changes in…

During COVID-19, lodging in Japan suffered greatly due to various travel restrictions, leading many outlets to close temporarily, or even some to close altogether. However, in 2023, when travel restrictions were lifted completely early in the year,…

COVID-19 has changed various elements in businesses, from the implementation of working from home, to the normalisation of online meetings, and paperless applications and approvals. With such momentum, this has also triggered an acceleration of the…

Airlines is regaining momentum along with deregulation related to COVID-19, and the return of inbound tourism. However, the supply side has not kept pace with this recovery. The process of restoring the business structure is taking time, after many…

Economic freedom in Japan continues to benefit the private sector, as does limited corruption, but fiscal health remains weak. Unemployment is low, but the economy faces external forces that are weakening its performance. Ageing and depopulation…

Wearable electronics saw strong volume growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this has continued, with double-digit growth expected in 2023. Health consciousness amongst consumers has spiked since COVID-19, and from 2020 there has been a wide…

It was in May 2022 that Apple announced it was discontinuing its iPod brand. Apple’s iPod is an iconic device, changing the face of music over the last two decades. With the advertising copy “1,000 songs in your pocket”, the first model debuted in…

A truth in smartphones is that it is a scale business. The larger the volume produced, the better the cost, because it is easier to receive volume discounts from device makers. Large global players such as Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi enjoy this…

After a double-digit retail volume decrease was seen for in-car entertainment in 2020, brought about by home seclusion during the pandemic, in-car entertainment experienced a further almost double-digit decline in 2021. The decrease slowed in 2022,…

Volume sales of digital cameras are set to see another year of decline in 2023. Over the last decade, volume sales have been on an unstoppable decreasing trend. One factor which is positive, however, is that the negative volume growth rate expected…

There was huge demand for televisions in the country little more than a decade ago. During the period 2009-2011, two drivers pushed up sales of televisions significantly. One was the shift of broadcasting from analogue to digital in July 2011. The…

2023 is set to be another year of volume decline for home audio and cinema. Indeed, sales in the category have been decreasing for over a decade. It is clear that the decrease is due to a structural shift in how consumers engage with music. This has…

Headphones in Japan saw fairly flat sales in 2022, and this is set to continue in 2023. Both in volume and current value terms, these two years are set to see growth or declines of less than 1%. Looking at category performances in volume terms,…

2022 was a difficult year for players in consumer electronics. Price increases on materials, including semiconductor chips, and the weakened Japanese yen made it difficult for brands to secure profits. Some could easily apply price increases for…

2020 was an unprecedented year globally, and this was reflected in computers in Japan. Being the most used operating system for computers, the launch of a new Windows OS and the end of support of a Windows OS were key triggers for replacement…

Although their packaging unit volumes were down slightly in 2022, bath additives have recorded significant growth in Japan in recent years as Japanese consumers believe in the cultural significance of bathing, which goes beyond mere hygiene to…

The continued share gains being made by plastic pouches in home care packaging in Japan can be attributed to this pack type being lightweight and easy to handle, making them a popular choice for home care products such as laundry detergents and…

Asian speciality drinks was well-positioned to benefit from the increased focus on health brought about by COVID-19. However, most of these products are also available in liquid concentrate format. With consumers staying at home, off-trade volume…