Social network site (SNS) users in Asia/Pacific indicate that MOBILE is now the way to go, potentially overtaking PCs as the device of choice, according to market research company IDC's recent survey-based report, Examining Usage, Perceptions, and Monetization: The Coming of Age for Social Network Sites in Asia/Pacific.
In countries such as China, India, Korea, and Thailand, over 50% of the users interviewed have now made accessing SNSs via the mobile phone a weekly habit. This is particularly widespread in the China and Thailand markets, where 62% and 65% of respective users regularly obtain news alerts and notifications, receive and reply to messages, upload photos, or update personal status and profiles on popular SNSs via mobile phone browsers.
By contrast, Australia and Singapore see the lowest percentage of users who access mobile versions of SNSs, where only 19% and 25% of respective users login weekly via their mobile browsers.
"The prevalence of owning a cellular phone over a PC in China, India and Thailand has directly boosted the popularity of mobile SNS access," said Debbie Swee, Market Analyst, IDC Asia/Pacific Emerging Technologies Research. "In Korea, however, there is strong usage for a different reason - the market is technologically advanced and has already seen mass adoption of mobile Internet as compared with all other countries surveyed in the study.
"As for Australia and Singapore, despite also being technologically advanced markets, the overwhelming importance of the PC over mobile has created strong inertia against adopting regular mobile access of SNSs," Debbie continues.
The IDC survey further indicated that mobile operators' pricing strategies are possibly keeping many non-users away from mobile social networking. Majority of users who have never logged in to SNSs through mobile phones before have cited the hefty data tariffs as the main obstacle. These service fees can be in the form of mobile Internet, SMS or MMS access.
SNS users have, however, asserted that more are likely to try out mobile versions of SNS if telcos offer more affordable data rates. The availability of user-friendly mobile applications is also perceived as a notable area of improvement, albeit to a lesser extent.
This article appeared earlier on www.businesstrendsasia.com
