Wednesday - July 26, 2000

China Internet Usage Reaches 12.3 Million

The number of Internet users in China has reached 12.3 million people, according to findings released today by Internet measurement specialist iamasia (Interactive Audience Measurement Asia).

iamasia's figures place Hong Kong's Internet population at 1.85 million, or 37 per cent of all people aged between 12 and 60. The city in China with the highest level of Internet penetration is Beijing (25 per cent).

In China, 5.7 million people use the Internet at home and 5.0 million use the Internet at work. In Hong Kong, there are 1.52 million home users and 610,000 work users.

These findings are published this week in iamasia's NetKnowledge China and NetKnowledge Hong Kong reports, which provide in-depth intelligence on the size, composition and characteristics of Internet users in these geographies.

Earlier this month, iamasia and Reston, Va. based PC Data announced a partnership that will enable iamasia to leverage PC Data technology for future panel-based measurement services, and which will enable both companies to provide a global product offering.

Kevin Tan, CEO of iamasia, said: "Today's announcement represents the culmination of months of exhaustive, painstaking fieldwork in Hong Kong and across China. Our insistence on highly-rigorous survey methodology, including random sampling, guarantees that this is the most accurate and up-to-date information ever gathered on Internet users in the region."

iamasia's figures show that the Internet is still a relatively new phenomenon in China, with 56 per cent of current users having begun using the Internet within the last 12 months. (In contrast, more than 70 per cent of Internet users in Hong Kong have been doing so for more than a year.)

The Internet population is still dominated by men (62 per cent in China and 58 per cent in Hong Kong), although the gender gap is narrowing with more and more women coming online. China's user base is young, with 63 per cent between the ages of 15 and 29, versus 24 per cent between the ages of 30 and 44. (In Hong Kong, the equivalent numbers are 48 per cent and 38 per cent respectively.)

Also included in iamasia's NetKnowledge reports is brand-new insight on attitudes toward and penetration of consumer e-commerce. Five per cent of Internet users in China have made a purchase online, compared with 15 per cent in Hong Kong. Books, groceries (especially for women) and computer hardware and software (especially for men) are the top sellers.

"iamasia has taken the guesswork out of sizing and understanding the Internet user base," said Ann Stephens, chairman and CEO of PC Data Online. "These new reports are the definitive source of information on Internet-population demographics and preferences in the Greater China region."

RealPlayer is Fourth Most Used Home Application
Media Metrix, a pioneer and leader in Internet and Digital Media measurement worldwide, reports that RealPlayer has leaped ahead of other Internet and online interface software applications such as America Online and Netscape to become the fourth most used application on home computers. This represents almost a 13-fold increase from early 1997 usage of 2.4 million users.

The data indicate that streaming media, including both audio and video, has arrived as the second most used Internet and online interface application despite the fact that less than five percent of all households in the U.S. have broadband modem speeds, said Bruce Ryon, Senior Vice President of the New Media Group, Media Metrix. People tend to associate streaming media with video but much of the content being played is actually audio, which works well with modem speeds of 56 kilobits per second or less.

RealPlayer is a product of RealNetworks, which develops and markets software products and services designed to enable users of personal computers and other consumer electronic devices to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services using the Web. Napster is an application that helps users find and download music in MP3 format from the Web. Outlook Express is the email software application bundled with Microsoft's Internet Explorer and is closely related to the Microsoft communications and information management software, Outlook.

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