Thursday, June 24, 2004
New research on mobile telephony and youth in the Asia-Pacific region
Recent research reported by the Taylor Nelson Sofres Asia Telecoms Index suggests that mobile phone ownership among 13 to 15 year olds in the Asia-Paciofic region is rapidly increasing. The Index surveyed 12 Asia-Pacific nations, including Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, among others (not listed). I came across reference to the report in The Australian online, and am still trying to track down the orginal report. oddly enough, The Australian report claims that Australian youth aged 13 to 15 years "lead the world in mobile telephone use" with the caveat that this holds everywhere except for in Hong Kong (which hardly makes Australian youth the "leaders" then!); moreover, it's not clear whether Japan was included in the survey. Japanese youth have long been the most mobile communicators in the world. Norway and Sweden certainly weren't, and yet both countries have exceptionally high teenage mobile phone ownership rates.
Nonetheless, the survey does point to interesting trends in terms of mobile phone ownership and preferences(e.g., Australian youth were found to prefer mobile internet and other multimedia functions over cheaper services).
