Japan

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…

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…