Asian Trends: Internet Usage Across the Asia Pacific Region

SINGAPORE - With foreign investment companies looking to dive into the hot Asian Internet market, NetValue's January 2001 report on Internet behaviour across Asia provides an insightful overview into this previously mysterious market.

How wired is Asia?

There is no doubt that Internet has become an integral part of life in Singapore, with 47.4% of its households connected to the Internet. Taiwan (40.0%) and Korea (37.3%) are not far behind and Hong Kong has over a quarter of its households connected. Only 17.9% of the households in China's four largest cities (Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen) are connected to the Internet but the fact that 73.5% of these houses are relatively new to the Internet, only going online in the past two years, shows that China has been quick to catch on to the Internet craze.

% Household connected to the Internet
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While 15 to 24 year olds account for the highest percentage of Internet users throughout Asia, in China it's a different story, with more 25 to 34 year olds using the Internet. And while all markets had more students than professionals using the Internet, in Korea, the difference between the two occupations is much more apparent.

Profile of Asian Internet users
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What is Asia doing online?

Web surfing is still the predominant online activity, accounting for 83.0% of all Internet users in China, 75.6% in Hong Kong, 72.2% in Taiwan and 69.5% in Korea. Pure web usage goes down to 53.3% in Singapore, where non-web activity audio-video takes on a huge percentage of market (30.4%).

Looking at figures for non-web activities throughout the region, audio-video has remarkable potential in the Asian market, ranging from 13.6% of Internet users in China using it to a staggering 69.2% in Korea.

Hong Kong leads the Instant Messaging market in Asia with 65.5% of Hong Kong Netizens using it.

Distribution of non-Web activities
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