BRANDSTATS: Mobile numbers are skyrocketing

<p>M-commerce companies would most likely be drooling at the sight of </p><p>the latest survey findings from research agency NFO World Group - Hong </p><p>Kong, which revealed that mobile telephone penetration rates across Asia </p><p>continue to skyrocket. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Hong Kong, where owning two mobile phones is not unusual, had the </p><p>highest penetration rate of 89 per cent. Korea and Taiwan followed close </p><p>behind. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>China's primary cities of Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing also turned in </p><p>a respectable 48 per cent. Expect that to grow rapidly over the next few </p><p>years. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A majority of the markets studied by NFO found that one brand dominated </p><p>over many others. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In Hong Kong, for instance, 51 per cent of respondents said they owned a </p><p>Nokia phone compared with just 12 per cent for second-placed </p><p>Motorola. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A similar situation was found to exist in Singapore, Malaysia and </p><p>Korea. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, in China, Taiwan and Japan, competition was keener among the </p><p>top brands. In China, just two percentage points separated Motorola and </p><p>Ericsson, while in Taiwan there was a three point difference between </p><p>Nokia and Motorola. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MAKE OF PHONE OWNED BY RESPONDENTS (%) </p><p>CHINA HONG KONG TAIWAN SINGAPORE </p><p>Motorola 24 Nokia 51 Nokia 40 Nokia 59 </p><p>Ericsson 22 Motorola 12 Motorola 37 Motorola 17 </p><p>Nokia 18 Ericsson 10 Ericsson 6 Ericsson 10 </p><p>Siemens 11 Siemens 7 Panasonic 4 Siemens 7 </p><p>MALAYSIA KOREA JAPAN </p><p>Nokia 48 Samsung 46 Panasonic 22 </p><p>Motorola 16 LG/LGIC 26 NEC 13 </p><p>Ericsson 15 Motorola 11 Sharp 9 </p><p>Siemens 9 Alcatel 4 Toshiba 8 </p><p><BR><BR> </p>