Young Chinese lead the way in mobile internet usage : Nielsen

“Widespread ownership of mobiles is only a fairly recent development in China, yet the unsubscribed mobile users in the lower tier cities are anticipated to provide an overwhelming opportunity for China,” said Oliver Rust, managing director, The Nielsen Company Hong Kong.

The Nielsen Company analyses and tracks mobile usage in North America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

In Hong Kong, according to Nielsen Media Index, 24 per cent of young mobile phone users aged between 15 and 24 currently own a smartphone, comparing to 20 per cent of those aged 25 or above. Of all young mobile smartphone users, males still take the lead with 57 per cent versus 43 per cent female.

Prepaid seems to be the preferred payment method for global youth outside of the US.

Also referred to as ‘pay as you go,’ prepaid means mobile credit can be bought before the service is activated. Unlike postpaid services, which are often contract based, the prepaid mobile usage is paid for prior to use and requires minimal credit history.

In Hong Kong, for example, seven in 10 young mobile phone subscribers pay their bill on a monthly basis of which they are charged for usage in the prior month. Personal payment (as opposed to payment by parents or family) for mobile charges increases as teens move into young adulthood. Across the countries surveyed, personal payment increases on average 30 per cent once mobile users exit their teen years.

Youth in China and the United States lead the way globally among young mobile subscribers who use advanced data (beyond voice and text). 84 per cent of Chinese young mobile subscribers use their phones for advanced data compared to 47 per cent of adult mobile subscribers in China. 

Of all young Chinese advanced data users, 73 per cent of them use mobile internet on their mobile, a usage rate significantly higher than the rest of the world.

“It is not surprising that Chinese youth surf the net while on the go more than adults – they have grown up with the internet and the internet has always been an integral part of their lives,” Rust commented.

According to Nielsen Media Index, text messaging tends to be the key mobile phone activity for youths in Hong Kong.  As many as 59 per cent of Hong Kong youth use their mobile phones for text messaging  followed by listening to music (45 per cent) and taking photos (42 per cent). There are signs of a significant opportunity for the mobile platform to enhance the usage of the mobile phone for browsing, downloads, email and video when comparing to the adult population and other markets.

“With the increasing importance of the mobile platform, it is expected that the demand for mobile devices and data will continue to expand, leading to many opportunities for service providers, device manufacturers, retailers and content providers,” Rust added.

The report adds that it is crucial for marketers to understand the mobile behaviours of different age groups in the market and thus helping them to communicate more effectively with their target groups through mobile services and devices.