MEDIA-I: Taiwan net users grow as gadget penetration rises

<p>TAIPEI: More than 6.7 million Taiwanese - roughly a third of the </p><p>island's population - now use the internet weekly, according to a new </p><p>report by digital magazine, Business Next. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Highlights of the company's third annual "How digital RU?" survey found </p><p>that Taiwan's pool of netizens had grown to 36 per cent of the country's </p><p>population, up from 26 per cent in 1999. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The ration of male to female users has closed to 51 versus 49 per cent </p><p>this year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Fifty-one per cent of users surf the net one to three hours per day and </p><p>send or receive an average of eight emails daily. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Twenty-one per cent invest in stocks online. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The penetration of digital appliances in the market is 57 per cent for </p><p>desktops computers, 18 per cent for laptops, 81 per cent mobile phones, </p><p>17 per cent for digital cameras, 10 per cent for pagers, seven per cent </p><p>for PDAs and six per cent for wireless stock readers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>