Leading the Way is a column written by PricewaterhouseCoopers professional staff. It appears in the Business section of the Bangkok Post twice each month. The column provides specialised advice to corporate decision-makers in Thailand on global and local business trends.
This article appeared in the June 5, 2007 issue of the Bangkok Post.
By Verasa Attanun
Have you ever used your mobile phone to take a photo, uploaded the photo to your personal blog, and shared the photo with your ''virtual'' friends all over the globe? Welcome to the new, exciting world of converged technologies. More and more communications companies are pushing forward with their triple- and quadruple-play strategies. Enabled by the growth in broadband and internet Protocol (IP) technologies, new players are intensifying competition and the fight for revenues as the market moves toward lower prices.
PricewaterhouseCoopers recently surveyed 8,000 of our employees in 17 countries. The survey, entitled Convergence Monitor, aimed to identify the respondents' propensity to buy and use converged digital home technologies and services in their personal lives. In this article, we will take a close look at technology trends in Thailand and the Asia Pacific region. Please note that as we talk about consumers throughout this report, we are referring to our survey population as opposed to the general population of consumers at large.
The rise of broadband
Our survey found a high penetration of broadband throughout the Asia Pacific region, with 83% of respondents having a high-speed connection at home. Penetration varies to an extent across the region, with Korea showing the highest rate at 95%. Broadband adoption is still rising across the board and is popular with the 16-44 age groups.
The results indicate that Thailand has the largest number of dialup users in Asia Pacific, with 55% of the respondents using a dialup connection at home, compared to the regional average of 19%. However, the number of broadband subscribers is expected to overtake dialup customers, with 20% of Thai respondents stating that they plan on moving to broadband within one year.
The virtual community
Chatting, instant messaging, and downloading digital music are popular services among Thai internet users. The survey shows that 90% of respondents have used chatting or instant messaging at least once, and 87% have downloaded music through the internet at least once. This leads us to expect that the growing interest in downloading music, movies, and other applications will further increase demand for higher bandwidth beyond entry market speeds. However, some activities and services, such as online banking and online shopping, are not as popular in Thailand as they are in other Asia Pacific countries. For example, while 39% of Singaporean respondents stated that they had used online banking and shopping at least once, only 8% of Thai respondents had done so.
Socialising in cyberspace
The survey shows that China has the largest number of social networking users, with more than 85% of respondents having engaged in social networking at least once. Thailand has the second largest number of social networking users, with 71% of respondents having used this service at least once. The survey shows that 9% of respondents in Thailand go online daily, 20% go online weekly, 15% go online monthly, and 29% go online occasionally.
In addition to social networking, users in Asia Pacific are more likely to use blogging than users in other regions. China has the largest number of users creating their own blogs, with 68% of respondents saying they have created their own blog at least once.
In Thailand, 46% of respondents have used blogging at least once, compared to the regional average of 37%.
Demand for downloads
The demand for music downloads is expected to grow significantly in the future. However, the impact of piracy, network constraints, and competition from licensed digital distribution channels will be significant constraints in the growth in demand for music downloads. Rising broadband subscription will continue to fuel digital distribution and demand for music downloads. Our survey reports that 87% of respondents in Thailand have downloaded music at least once, compared to the regional average of 78%.
The demand for movie downloads in Asia Pacific is higher than in other regions, with 55% of respondents having downloaded a movie at least once. In Thailand, 53% of respondents have downloaded a movie at least once.
TV on the go
Our survey shows that IPTV and Mobile TV have very low penetration rates across the Asia Pacific region, with an average of 1.2% and 3.3% respectively. Hong Kong has the largest number of both IPTV and Mobile TV users, with a penetration rate of 6.2% and 7.1% respectively. In Thailand, the penetration rate is very low, at 1.8% and 2.4% respectively.
The limitation for Thailand to adopt IPTV and Mobile TV is that dialup users still account for the majority of internet users, and network constraints remain a significant problem. In the future, increased broadband penetration, the expanding wireless telephone universe, and upgrades to the next generation of wireless networks will likely foster growth in the IPTV and Mobile TV market.
In the second part of this article, which will be published in two weeks time, we will look at Thailand and Asia Pacific consumer preferences for billing, their concerns about the security of their service providers, and whether technology is becoming too complex.
