The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has been surveying trends in the rapidly expanding mobile business market since 2003, against a backdrop of recent widespread use of mobile phones, increased speed and functionality of terminals, changes to communication fee structures, etc. Survey results from 2009 have now been compiled and are published herein.

1. Survey results

・In 2009, the mobile business market was worth 1.52 trillion yen, an increase of 168.2 billion yen (12%) over the previous year.

・The mobile content market was worth 552.5 billion yen, an increase of 69 billion yen (14%) over the previous year.
The mobile commerce market was worth 968.1 billion yen, an increase of 99.2 billion yen (11%) over the previous year.

・The market has expanded healthily, with the number of mobile internet users increasing (up to 80.1 million people, a 6.7% increase over the previous year; see the MIC's “Survey of Communication Usage Trends in FY 2009”), while growth in the mobile commerce market has been particularly striking.

2. Calculation methods

(1) Mobile content market
　Estimated using results obtained from documents published by mobile phone businesses, as well as from data and questionnaire surveys received from major businesses.

(2) Mobile commerce market
　Estimated using a base of results from hearings with major trade associations engaged in the mobile business.

3. Survey commission

　The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) commissioned the Mobile Content Forum (MCF) to conduct this survey.


*About the Mobile Content Forum (MCF)
　 Established in 1999 to stimulate the mobile content environment, with participation from businesses such as telecommunications carriers, manufacturers, content providers, etc.
(Number of member companies as of December 2009: 281)

Attachment

Attachment: Survey Results concerning Actual Industrial Structure of Mobile Content

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International Policy Division,
Global ICT Strategy Bureau, MIC
TEL: +81 3 5253 5374 / FAX: +81 3 5253 5924