APAC Sees Doubling Of Mobile Phone User Numbers
Thursday, April 12 7:50 PM SGT
There were 230 million mobile phone subscribers in the Asia Pacific region by the end of last year, according to Dataquest, a unit of research firm Gartner, Inc. This figure translates into a 52 percent increase over the 115 million subscribers in 1999.
Bertrand Bidaud, director of Telecommunications at Gartner Dataquest Asia-Pacific, added that both the Singapore and Hong Kong markets have recorded the highest mobile penetration percentages in the region, with 74 percent of their respective populations going wireless.
"In Singapore, the market has accelerated with the entry of StarHub. StarHub grew much faster than the overall market (51 percent against 13 percent), partly at the expense of M1," he said.
Gartner Dataquest also reported that the number of Chinese mobile phone subscribers nearly doubled from 43.3 million in 1999 to 85.3 million in 2000, making the Mainland the region's leader by sheer numbers alone. Said Ann Liang, industry analyst for Gartner Dataquest's Asia/Pacific mobile research group, "Against a backdrop of improved prosperity and favorable government policies, the cellular industry in China is expanding as a result of increased competition, lower terminal prices and service packages, as well as the rapid adoption of pre-paid services.
"Even without further acceleration in subscriber numbers, there is clearly room for strong sustained growth, especially with the introduction of new networks and new mobile players into the market, and the impact of accession to the World Trade Organization," she said.
The Philippines saw a dramatic 132 percent year-on-year increase in the number of mobile phone users, tallying up to 6.3 million subscribers in 2000. India recorded a more modest 97 percent growth to more than 3.1 million cellular subscribers last year.
Added Kobita Desai, industry analyst for Gartner Dataquest's mobile research in India, "After several years in the doldrums, the Indian cellular market has at last begun to rack up significant subscribers, which in future years could replicate the type of growth patterns that China has enjoyed. With the introduction of further competition, we anticipate an acceleration in the process of mergers, acquisitions and alliances among cellular operations, resulting in a handful of financially sound operators."
The research firm observed that apart from the strong overall growth in basic mobile phone services in the region, subscribers here have shown "encouraging demand" for mobile Internet services as well. It estimated that over Q4 2000, there were 34.4 million regular mobile Internet users in Asia Pacific; the three-month period saw a 29 percent increase in such subscribers in the region.
It is of no surprise that Japan and South Korea dominated the region's mobile data market, accounting for 26.8 million and 7 million users, respectively.
"The steady growth in mobile Internet usage in the region is laying a solid foundation for much faster adoption once subscribers start to realize the benefits of packet data services toward the end of this year," added Nick Ingelbrecht, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest's mobile research group.
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