Bangkok--12 Jul--The Nielsen Company
LESS THAN A THIRD OF THAILAND’S POULATION CURRENTLY ACCESS THE INTERNET: NIELSEN
Thais are amongst the most avid users of mobile Internet in Southeast Asia (SEA), with this trend set to continue as more than half of Thai Internet users intend to access the Internet via a mobile phone in the next 12 months, according to a report released today by global insights and measurement company, Nielsen.
Thailand consumers’ intent to use mobile devices to access the Internet in the next 12 months
The report, a pre-release of data from Nielsen’s inaugural Southeast Asia Digital Consumer Report* which will be available on 30 September, found 56 percent of online Thais intend to access the internet via a mobile phone in the next 12 months, and 29 percent intend to do so via another type of Internet-capable handheld device.
“Thailand is one of the very few countries that still has no commercial 3G network,” notes Aaron Cross, Managing Director of Nielsen Consumer division in Thailand. “However, thanks largely to the social media momentum, mobile technology is evolving at a rapid pace and the advent of Smartphones such as the iPhone and Blackberry is making it easier for consumers to access the Internet anywhere, anytime. Thai people's willingness to embrace new technology, despite the lack of availability of high speed mobile data services, shows real potential in this space.”
Southeast Asia Internet penetration
Whilst mobile Internet usage in Thailand is surging, the country has one of the lowest levels of overall Internet penetration in SEA. Less than one third of Thailand’s population aged 15+ (31%) use the Internet, seven percentage points lower than the SEA regional average of 38 percent and 36 points lower than Singapore (67%), which had the highest level of internet penetration across the region. Internet penetration in Thailand is lowest amongst those aged 50+ where only seven percent of consumers are online.
Furthermore, whilst Thailand exhibits the highest frequency across the SEA region for being online ‘several times per week’, it lags behind Singapore (80%) and Malaysia (53%) for ‘daily’ Internet use, with only 36 percent of regular consumers online, accessing the internet on a daily basis.
“The low Internet penetration levels in Thailand and the infrequent rate with which consumers are accessing the Internet, reinforce that digital media has significant growth opportunities in Thailand,” states Cross.
* Data and commentary contained in this press release are taken from a special pre-release of Nielsen’s inaugural Southeast Asia Digital Consumer Report. Nielsen is embarking on this region-wide study of the behaviours and attitudes of digital consumers in response to the way that online media is fast becoming a mainstream media in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand). As such, advertisers, publishers and agencies need current and insightful metrics on which to base their decisions about how to best meet their market’s needs and expectations when it comes to online content delivery.
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