What Do Asian Mobile Phone Users Want, Have?
The early adopters are willing to pay for enhanced 3G services, particularly for music, video, and downloading capabilities.
Asians, like their European counterparts, are ready to adopt next generation wireless and its enhanced services – and pay extra for them – with the largest group (48 percent) interested in downloading and playing music clips.
According to insight from TNS, 25 percent of mobile phone owners in the 11 Asian countries they surveyed are using, or likely to start using, 2.5 and 3G [define] services within the next six months.
More than three-quarters (78 percent) of respondents who are using or considering 2.5/3G adoption are willing to pay 5 percent more that they are currently paying; 70 percent are willing to pay 10 percent more; 58 percent are willing to pay 20 percent more; 47 percent are willing to pay 30 percent more; and 32 percent are willing to pay 50 percent more.
| What Do Asian Mobile Phone Users Want, Have? | ||
|---|---|---|
| Application | Interested in Using |
Currently in Using |
| Download/play music | 48% | 3% |
| E-mail attachment capability | 45% | 3% |
| Send/receive music/video | 44% | 2% |
| LBS | 42% | 7% |
| Video conferencing/phone | 40% | 0% |
| Send/receive photos | 38% | 12% |
| Watch real time TV | 33% | 0% |
| Search Yellow Pages/directories | 32% | 20% |
| Subscribe to mobile coupons | 32% | 5% |
| Browse Internet | 31% | 17% |
| Subscribe to news/notices | 29% | 13% |
| Mobile wallet/payment | 28% | 2% |
| Download/play games | 21% | 16% |
| Shop | 21% | 3% |
| Download logos/characters | 20% | 35% |
| IM or chatmail | 20% | 7% |
| Online banking/stock | 20% | 4% |
| Download ringtones | 18% | 52% |
| SMS [define] | 9% | 76% |
| Note: Applications were more comprehensively worded in the questionnaire. | ||
| Source: TNS | ||
“For telecoms providers in Asia, these findings provide a strong reassurance that there is a significant level of early adopters of next generation services. With these specific users being willing to pay extra for such capabilities, the providers must focus their business efforts on satisfying their needs in order to boost sales and in crease their return on investments,” commented Hanis Harun, regional director for Telecoms Asia Pacific, at TNS.
A collaborative study conducted by A.T. Kearney and the University of Cambridge’s Judge Institute of Management revealed similar findings on a global level. While 83 percent of the 5,600 participants from 15 countries were aware of photo messaging, and 64 percent would be willing to pay for it, 40 percent said they would never use the function. Only 12 percent would be willing to use photo messaging at least once a day; 24 percent said they would use the feature once per week; and 22 percent said one per month.
Even though more than half indicated that they would use photo messaging, only 5 percent of users worldwide report sending a photo message, while 21 percent of users in Japan reportedly sent photo messages at least once a month. Additionally, mobile email is the dominant form of data communication in Japan.
The report found that even though Japan seems to have a higher MMS [define] adoption rate than other countries, location-specific information access is still in its infancy. While more than 20 percent of Japanese mobile Internet users access news and weather information, only 8 percent gather location-based information.
