Report: Young Japanese Women Love Apple Just Fine

Japanese women between 20 – 26 awarded Apple products 4 out of the top 5 spots in a survey of their thoughts on superior design commissioned by Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization and published at the online site What Japan Thinks.

Asked “Amongst stuff you have never owned, what do you feel has superior design?” the women named Apple’s iPods first. Second place went to the Apple iPhone, with Plus-Minus Zero humidifiers (?) coming in third. In Fourth and fifth places were Apple’s desktop computers and notebooks, respectively.

The survey of 1,102 young women distributed among Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, also had respondents rank companies in general, asking “Amongst stuff you do own or have owned, what do you feel has superior design?” Apple came in first place, followed by Sharp, Sony, NEC, Muji Ryohin [a Japanese retail design company, literally named "no brand quality goods"], Panasonic, Franc Franc [a Japanese Ikea], and Nintendo. Results of the same question directed to stuff they “have never owned” again placed Apple first, and with respect to overall brand image (not tied to any specific products), Apple came in second only to SONY.

Results of the survey are enlightening, coming in the wake of the brouha-ha that grew from a recent Wired article suggesting that Japanese “hate” the iPhone.

Via AppleInsider

• Image Claude Estèbe

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