You know times are hard when Japanese start giving up their cell phones! The number of cell-phone shipments in Japan have dropped by nearly half since last year, according to a recent industry report. That is no small drop since Japanese cell-phone users are estimated to be over 110 million, or about 87 percent of the population. Without constant demand, the cell-phone industry, like many others, could be in for difficult times.
Loud conversations and pandemic use of cell phones is not likely to abate anytime soon, though. Roughly 1.8 million new cell phones were shipped last year even as the economy worsened. That's still a lot of cell phones, old or new — evidence enough of how deeply integrated cell phones have become in the everyday life of Japan.
Japanese consumers may simply be accommodating themselves to tighter budgets and to discriminating feelings about one of their most prized possessions. The recession may give Japan's insatiable consumers a chance to catch their breath and let an oversaturated market cool down a bit. That may not be so bad, all things considered, but it has effects on other parts of the economy as well.