Unknown in North America, QR Codes are common in Japan–where you might find one on almost anything. The square “barcodes” have been supported by almost every Japanese camera-equipped mobile phone for the last few years. What Japan Thinks summarizes a recent survey of over 17,000 users from MyVoice into mobile phone QR Codes. Some of the key results include:

• DoCoMo is the most popular mobile phone service provider at 43%, followed by au (28.9%) and Softbank (20.3%)
• Only about 5% use the QR Codes frequently, but 42% do occasionally, and another 14.6% have at some time
• 71.3% scan magazine articles and ads, 14.5% maps, 12.9% food, and 12.3% posters and leaflets in stations
• 90% connect directly to the Web site with the scanned QR Code while about 12% either bookmark or send an email
• 66.3% have never heard of color QR Codes and only about 4% have used them.

Source: Ken Y-N. “QR Code Usage in Japan,” What Japan Thinks 10/30/07.

Related Post: “More on Japanese QR Codes,” EBT Blog 04/24/07.

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