NOT DGIV !!! NEWS STORY!! INTERNET ACCESS UP 43% IN FIRST QUARTER 98'
Business Editors/High-Tech Writers
LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 1998--
In Browser War, Netscape Navigator and Communicator Maintain
Narrowing Lead Over Microsoft Internet Explorer
Nearly 45 million PCs in the United States access the Internet
regularly, a 43 percent increase in the first quarter of 1998 vs. the
first quarter of 1997, according to a newly released study from
Ziff-Davis (NYSE:ZD).
The findings are from the 1998 ZD Technology User Profile, a
semiannual study of U.S. PC use and users conducted by ZD Market
Intelligence, a leading source of fact-based information on the
computer and communications industries.
"Internet use continues to grow in the U.S.," said Dave Tremblay,
senior industry analyst at ZD Market Intelligence, a Ziff-Davis group.
"The number of PCs that use the Internet has grown more than 140
percent in the past two years, from 18.6 million in January 1996 to
44.6 million in 1998. About one in three workplace PCs now access the
Internet, and nearly one in two home PCs does the same. In just two
years, the Internet has become a home-PC mainstay."
Internet Penetration
Percentage of PCs Installed in the United States That Access the
Internet
*T
Home Self-Employed Workplace
1Q96 23 percent 26 percent 17 percent
1Q97 37 percent 43 percent 26 percent
1Q98 48 percent 52 percent 33 percent
Source: 1998 ZD Technology User Profile
*T
The most commonly used Internet application remains electronic
mail. About 85 percent of home and self-employed Internet PCs and just
over three-quarters of workplace Internet PCs report utilizing
Internet e-mail. Reading online publications and downloading software
are the next two most-often-used Internet applications, and the only
other two used by at least 50 percent of Internet PCs.
The next most common Internet application is obtaining
information about products the user intends to buy in non-electronic
channels. Some 16.4 million PCs, or 37 percent of those connected to
the Internet, were used for this application. This is about two-thirds
more than the number that were used to shop for products the user
intended to buy electronically.
A total of 10 million PCs used the Internet to shop for
e-purchases. 5.7 million have bought PCs or related products on the
net, 3.9 million bought other consumer electronics products and
nearly 7.7 million bought some other consumer product or service. The
number purchasing other consumer products and services via the net
has more than doubled from 3.7 million a year ago.
"The Internet is becoming a major part of the lives of millions
of Americans," added Mark Nelson, vice president and general manager
of ZD Market Intelligence's Consumer Markets Group. "The average
Internet PC was connected to the net 4.5 hours a week, a full hour
more than we measured a year ago. Considering both the increase in the
number of PCs connected and the average time connected, we estimate
that Internet 'eyeball-hours' increased some 80 percent in the last
year. It's no wonder that more and more companies are looking to the
Internet as an advertising medium to reach their customers and
potential customers. What other medium grew 80 percent in the past
year?"
The browser battle really heated up in 1997. Although Netscape
did grow its number of users, the clear winner was Microsoft and its
Internet Explorer (IE). Including both Navigator and Communicator, a
total of 24.2 million PCs used a Netscape browser as of January 1998,
a 33 percent increase from 18.2 million one year earlier. In spite of
its growth in the number of users, Netscape actually lost market share
from January 1997 to January 1998, declining from 63 percent to 54
percent of Internet PCs. Some 17.3 million PCs used Microsoft IE in
January 1998, a 182 percent increase in just one year. IE's share
nearly doubled, from 21 percent in January 1997 to 39 percent in
January 1998.
"There is a silver lining for Netscape in our findings," Tremblay
said. "Many people do not seem to view the choice of a browser as an
either/or situation. Nearly 5.6 million PCs have both Navigator and
IE. In total, about one in six Internet PCs has more than one browser.
So, even as IE gains in the marketplace, Netscape may not be driven
off PCs."
The findings are from the 1998 ZD Technology User Profile, the
largest, most comprehensive research effort focusing on personal
computer, communications and home technology usage in the United
States. Data was obtained from responses received to questionnaires
mailed to 50,000 households. Survey results are based on the findings
of a detailed, 12-page written questionnaire on the types and brands
of equipment used at home and in the workplace, which was mailed to
17,500 U.S. households. The survey also gathers extensive demographic
information from respondents and ascertains their future purchase
plans.
ZD Market Intelligence, formerly Computer Intelligence, is a
leading provider of sales and marketing solutions to a wide spectrum
of computer and telecommunications companies. More than 10,000 users
access ZD Market Intelligence data on a regular basis.
ZD Market Intelligence's extensive research capabilities provide
a variety of products and services that help companies sell and market
more effectively. All are based on proprietary-information databases
of technology usage and buying activity in large- to medium-size
businesses and homes.
With headquarters in La Jolla, Calif., ZD Market Intelligence has
U.S. offices in Cambridge, Mass., Norwalk, Conn.; Sunnyvale, Calif.;
and Dallas. European headquarters are in Paris, with sales offices in
the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, and sales agents in Belgium and
Switzerland. Samples of ZD Market Intelligence's extensive market data
and research results, timely commentary from industry authorities and
previews of upcoming technology events are available on the company's
World Wide Web site, www.zdintelligence.com (formerly www.ci.zd.com).
Ziff-Davis is a leading integrated media and marketing company
focused on computing and Internet-related technology, with principal
platforms in print publishing, trade shows and conferences, online
content, market research and education. The company provides global
technology companies with marketing strategies for reaching key
decision-makers.
--30--ktbh/sd*
CONTACT: ZD Market Intelligence
Glenn Grant, 800/880-0973
ggrant@zd.com
www.zdintelligence.com
www.ci.infobeads.com/default.asp?module=insider&topic=
Internet&story=Inet_use_0522
OR
Rogers Communications
Judith Vanderkay, 781/224-1100
jvanderkay@rogerscom.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA TEXAS CONNECTICUT MASSACHUSETTS
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET COMED |
