CReATION: Asia's online virgins take a virtual leap

An impressive 42 per cent of Koreans over the age of 15 may have been online in August, but most of the country's Web surfers were online virgins, connected to the Internet for less than six months, according to a recent survey by NetValue. Singapore meanwhile continued to lead the region in the number of Internet users at 46 per cent; Taiwan came in third at about 36 per cent; and Hong Kong a low 29 per cent. Internet users in China's Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai totalled 23 per cent. The regional overview saw a male student under 35 as the most frequent surfer on the Web. The survey also found Asian Internet junkies preferred accessing the 'Net at home. Meanwhile, a study of Internet usage by Neilsen//NetRatings found New Zealanders and Australians more engrossed in browsing for products and services than Singaporeans. They were also more likely to spend than Singaporeans as nearly 25 per cent of adults aged 16 or above had browsed the 'Net for pricing or other information on products and services. And, an estimated one in 10 Australians made purchases online. Compare that with Singapore, where 14 per cent of Internet users surfed the Web for products and a mere four per cent actually made a purchase. The report further noted that across Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, an estimated 37 million people aged two and above had access to the Internet from a home PC during the second quarter of this year. Among Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, the report discovered Singaporeans the most mature in terms of Internet access, with a greater proportion of the people having gained access during or before 1998. In addition, most households in the region have only one source of access to the Internet. Multiple sources were more common in New Zealand, where nearly 25 per cent of households had two or more devices that could connect to the Web.

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