Easou Releases Chinese Mobile Internet Report
Tencent Tech, 2/07/12
Shenzhen-based mobile search provider Easou released its 2011 mobile internet report in Beijing today.
User demographics
The report found that the average age of Chinese mobile internet users continued to drop in 2011, while the ratio of male to female users approached parity - though the report predicts that female users will outnumber male users over the next two to three years. 82% of mobile internet users are aged 30 or below; 58% are in the demographic of fashion-conscious 18-30 year-olds with disposable income. The latter demographic continues to grow and will continue to be one of the mainstays of mobile internet user growth in 2012.
Online engagement increased, with a corresponding increase in data consumption: average subscription plan allowance is now estimated at more than 50 MB per user per month, but this figure remains insufficient for a significant proportion of subscribers.
Mobile internet users tend to use mainly entertainment-oriented products, but demand for mobile search is increasing. The report found that 63% of users cited a need to use their mobile handsets for internet search.
Mobile Internet Usage Times
Mobile internet use was concentrated between the hours of 12 PM - 1 PM and 6 PM - 11 PM, and between Thursday and Sunday. At the monthly level, the first week of the month and the last two days of the month were the occasions of peak internet usage.
Access Methods and Operator Shares
86.8% of users accessed the mobile internet through WAP gateways, with 22.7% accessing the internet through Wi-Fi or other non-WAP gateways. China Mobile (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) subscribers accounted for 87.17% of WAP gateway visits; China Unicom (NYSE: CHU; 0762.HK; 600050.SH) subscribers for 7.3% and China Telecom (NYSE: CHA; 0728.HK) subscribers for 5.53%.
Increasingly, mobile subscribers use GPRS for internet access when not at home, and Wi-Fi or ADSL for access at home or work.
Regional Distribution
Guangdong province led among China Mobile subscribers with 15.87% of China's mobile internet users, followed by Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Jiangsu, each of which accounted for roughly 7% of users - though Guangdong's share of users is displaying a gradual decline. In addition to regional population, the relatively early focus on mobile internet services by operators in Guangdong, Henan, Hebei, and Fujian was another factor contributing to user distribution: these provinces were the first to offer low-cost data plans (RMB 5 per month for 20 MB or 30 MB), and have relatively fast access speeds.
Android and iOS device users were clustered mainly in more economically developed areas: Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang accounted for a total 42.5% and 49% of Android and iOS users, respectively. The wide variety and relatively low cost of Android devices has made the platform more attractive to subscribers in second- and third-tier cities.
Days of Activity Per Month
On average, mobile internet users were active for 11 days per month. 26.4% of users were active nearly every day (21 or more days per month), while 31.9% were active for 8 to 21 days per month, and 25.8% of users were relatively inactive, with less than 3 days per month of activity - including non-voluntary internet use.
Terminals
The top 20 mobile handsets accounted for 21.2% of mobile internet users. 17% of these were Nokia devices: the Nokia 6120C was the most popular handset, followed by the Nokia 5230 and Nokia E63 in the number 2 and number 3 positions, respectively. iPhone handsets (including all iPhone models) ranked fourth. The HTC Desire and Wildfire smartphones ranked 15th and 17th, respectively.
The majority of Android use came from users of HTC (2498.TW) and Samsung handsets, accounting for 28.7% and 26.5% of Android devices respectively. Motorola handsets accounted for 10.44% of Android devices, while domestic Android handsets, promoted through a combination of low prices and operator partnerships, accounted for roughly 20%, reflecting a considerable disparity in competitiveness with foreign brands. Huawei and ZTE (0763.HK; 000063.SZ) were the most popular domestic brands, accounting for 8.5% and 6.3%, respectively. The Samsung I9100, S5830, and Galaxy were the most popular of its Android devices, while HTC's Desire, Wildfire, and Incredible handsets were its most popular. The most widely used Huawei handset was the C8650, and the most widely used ZTE handset was the V880.
OS Distribution
MediaTek (MTK) and Symbian were the two leading platforms, with 38.58% and 33.32%, respectively. Only about 7% of mobile internet users used the high-end Android and iOS platforms: while higher-end smartphone adoption has grown rapidly over the past two years, the high prices and correspondingly low user uptake is reflected in the current small proportion of overall mobile internet users and large potential demand for low-cost smartphones.
Browser Usage
The UCWeb mobile browser, developed by UC Mobile, was the most widely used mobile browser with 30.37% of the total, followed by Shenzhen-based Tencent's (0700.HK) QQ Mobile browser (25.43%), the default MTK browser (18.39%), Mozilla (12.23%), and the default Nokia browser (11.83%). At least 11.3% of the remaining users had two or more browsers installed on their handsets.
Editor's Note: Figures for the report were gathered from Easou's daily mobile search logs and on two questionnaire-based surveys conducted by the company in January and December with 63,000 and 87,000 respondents, respectively.
Keywords: national statistics wireless WAP mobile browser Easou mobile Internet mobile OS segmentation market share
Sending
