Asia Mobile Tech: High-Speed Evolution

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7. Asean broadband penetration to surge past 200 million

AMI-Partners expects the Asean (Association of Southeast Asia Nations) broadband figure to flow past the 200 million-mark in 2007. Emerging countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, will fuel this broadband growth in the region--thanks to falling broadband prices, coupled with the increasing use of Net telephony and applications that drive the need for speed and bandwidth.

8. Mobile networks to outgrow fixed-line services

A study commissioned by the GSM Association shows 90 percent of the world's population will have access to mobile networks by the end of the decade. The study also shows that governments have collected more than US$6 billion from the telecoms industry and that mobile coverage is expected to expand further.

As the World Bank estimates, the capital cost of providing mobile coverage is still more affordable than installing fixed-line connections by a factor of ten.

9. Mobile and IPTV service to capture Chinese viewership

According to a study by Analysys International, China's wireless digital broadcasting for handheld TV will continue to grow in 2007 before hitting an estimated viewership of 22.19 million in 2010. Likewise, IDC expects the 2008 Beijing Games to be a big driver of IPTV adoption in China and the Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, region.

10. Laptops take over Asia's mature, and emerging markets, by storm

According to IDC, notebooks will be the fastest-growing PC form factor in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, with over 25 percent growth in unit shipment this year. The research house said falling prices and growing awareness will help drive this market growth, resulting in more multiple-PC households and increased migration away from desktops.

While notebook growth will be also be aggressive, IDC predicted that the 3G-enabled notebook segment will see disappointing results in 2007 where bottlenecks at the network operators will cause delayed demand.

11. New player bites into soaring smartphone market

Apple enters the handset market with the launch of its first iPhone cellular device, powered by the company's own OS X operating system. But whether it can make an impact in a market traditionally dominated by Nokia and its Symbian handsets, remains to be seen. According to statistics from Gartner, smartphone sales increased by 75.5 percent to 37.4 million units in 2005 and Nokia dominated smartphone sales in the first half of 2006, capturing 42 percent market share.

Nevertheless, Apple CEO Steve Jobs expects to sell 10 million units, or approximately 1 percent of the global phone market sales, by 2008--the same year the iPhone will make its debut in Asia.

Provided by ZDNet Asia—Where Technology Means Business