A chart shows the trend in average monthly smartphone service fees. Note: Japanese text in the original image from press release has been translated into English by our editorial team.
MM Research Institute
Japanese research firm MM Research Institute said on August 6 that average monthly smartphone charges in Japan rose to 4,198 yen in its July 2026 survey, up 201 yen from the previous survey in January, as handset prices and data usage also increased.
The survey measured the actual total amount paid for voice and data services, excluding installment payments for handsets that were still being paid off. The figure includes consumption tax. MM Research said the survey covered 8,564 valid responses for the monthly charge analysis.
Average smartphone purchase prices before discounts rose to 81,747 yen, up 2,976 yen from the previous survey. The average pre-discount purchase price was 87,228 yen for 5G smartphones and 55,623 yen for 4G smartphones, including 3G models. Monthly mobile data usage among smartphone users increased by 0.69 gigabytes from January to 13.94GB, while the median reached 4GB for the first time. Users spending 4GB or less a month accounted for 54.2% of respondents.
Smartphone usage time excluding calls averaged 1,286 minutes a week, or about 21 hours. Monthly Wi-Fi data usage averaged 15.48GB, bringing total monthly data traffic on smartphones, including mobile and Wi-Fi, to 29.42GB.
By carrier type, smartphone users on Japan’s four main mobile network operator brands — NTT Docomo, au, SoftBank and Rakuten Mobile — paid an average of 4,853 yen a month. Users of sub-brands such as Ymobile and UQ Mobile paid 3,296 yen, while users of mobile virtual network operators paid 1,979 yen. In Japan, MVNOs lease network capacity from larger carriers and typically offer lower-cost plans.
Data usage also varied by provider category. Average monthly mobile data consumption was 16.57GB for users of the four main MNO brands, compared with 8.45GB for sub-brand users and 7.29GB for MVNO users. By age group, users in their 20s and younger consumed 21.06GB a month on average, followed by 19.22GB for users in their 30s, 15.58GB for those in their 40s, 12.71GB for those in their 50s and 8.33GB for users in their 60s.
MM Research said average smartphone data usage has risen steadily over time, from 4.22GB in its February 2017 survey to 10.09GB in January 2023 and 13.94GB in July 2026. The research firm also said average handset purchase prices differed sharply by device type, with iPhones at 114,234 yen and Android devices at 62,612 yen before discounts.
Among digital services used on smartphones, Instagram had a 67.2% usage rate among social media users, ahead of X at 60.1% and TikTok at 34.8%. For music streaming users, Spotify stood at 31.4%, YouTube Music at 30.3% and Apple Music at 20.2%. Among paid video streaming services, Amazon Prime Video led at 29.0%, followed by Netflix at 20.5%, YouTube Premium at 8.0% and DAZN at 6.8%.
The survey was conducted online in July 2026 and covered men and women aged 15 to 69. MM Research said the study drew on 23,406 preliminary responses and 1,408 responses for the main survey.