Sony Ericsson Gets Third Place for Handset Satisfaction

Japanese customers have a wide variety of phones to choose from and it is only natural that some have developed a preference for a certain brand. According to a recent study concerning mobile telephone handset satisfaction in 2006, conducted by J.D. Power Asia Pacific in Japan, Sony Ericsson has managed to grab the 3rd spot, competing with 11 other mobile phone manufacturers.

The study measures overall customer satisfaction with mobile handsets of a certain brand based on eight criteria: design and size, battery life, quality, operability, e-mail, camera, display and web browsing.

Customers seemed content with the battery life, operability, email and camera found on Casio manufactured handsets. The mobile phone manufacturer ranked highest with an index score of 656 points on a 1,000 point scale.

Just a few points away, with a score of 636, Mitsubishi Electric placed second, managing to increase its score with 28 points since 2005.

Mitsubishi's phones are very appreciated by the Japanese customers for both their unique design and their large liquid-crystal displays. Sony Ericsson placed third, offering mobile phones with advanced music features and a nice design, scoring 631 points. A decline in customer satisfaction has occurred since 2005, with only the manufacturers that brought innovative products improving their score.

"The decrease in satisfaction with handsets produced by larger manufacturers implies that customers have now become more interested in unique products that meet their own sense of value," said Yuji Sasaki, senior research manager at J.D. Power Asia Pacific. "In particular, customers show strong interest in functions related to one-segment TV reception, which allows users to watch TV on their mobile handset, music and waterproof capabilities."

The 2006 study, conducted in August last year is based on evaluations from 3.187 customers who have bought a mobile phone in the past year. The study also shows that the number of mobile e-mail and Internet users has grown significantly since 2005.