According to Nielsen’s report on Hong Kong digital behavior, 87% of Hong Kong consumers have used the Internet in the past 12 months, compared to neighboring markets such as Singapore (67%), Malaysia (38%), Thailand (31%), Philippines (30%) and Indonesia (19%).

Internet usage in Hong Kong is particularly high among those aged 12 to 44 with over nine in ten accessing the Internet on a monthly basis.

Device Ownership in Hong Kong

The top three application on mobile phones and tablets in Hong Kong are search, email and news.

Also read:: China Internet Usage Led by Web Portals as Social Networking Remains Smaller Segment of the Market

We put together a list of nine mobile apps that help mobile users to find nearby restaurants, entertainment, shopping malls, and etc and get mobile coupon instantly.

Dianping

Dianping.com’s mobile application offers search functions for nearby restaurants, entertainment, hotels and etc besides the mobile coupon features.

Aizheke

Aizheke.com’s mobile app provides location based services like similar to dianping.com’s mobile app.

From Yuele.com

from Zhaoyoudian.com

mobile.ddmap.com

m.Zheq.cn

Buding.cn

Checkoo

IQPon.cn

You can find out more mobile coupon apps for Android here.

Also read:: Baidu Launched Baidu Mobile Apps

Dell Streak Tablet

Reuter reported that Dell is partnering Baidu to develop tablet computers and mobile phones, targeting the Chinese market now dominated by Apple and Lenovo devices.

Dell declined to give a timeline for the launch of the devices, but local media reported today, quoting sources, that it could be as early as this November.

Dell had a Streak 5 tablet (discontinued last month in US) and the partnership will be in that space integrating the newly launched Baidu Yi platform.

Also read:: Baidu Yi: Baidu’s Bet on Mobile

Baidu Yi Apps

Baidu launched a new homepage and “Yi Platform” for mobile phones at last week’s Baidu Technology Innovation Conference 2011.

Mobile Internet is considered where the future is and Baidu definitely will not miss this opportunity. Baidu Yi is not a mobile OS but a mobile application platform integrating smart search box, cloud computing and various mobile apps such as m-commerce, maps and etc.

Smart search box integrates local apps with mobile Internet in search results; and it has voice search features. Yi also provides 180G storage space to mobile users as well as high quality music services.

Baidu will work with mobile phone makers, install Yi platform to mobile phones and share the revenue.

Also read:: Baidu Mobile Search Can Now Find Nearby Restaurants for You

Baidu Mobile Union Website

The rumored Baidu Mobile OS “Qiushi” finally showed its true face; it is officially called Baidu Mobile Union. It’s not the name of mobile OS but a mobile network providing monetizing SDK to mobile app developers. 

Baidu Mobile Union will eventually support all major mobile platforms including Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and Symbian. Currently, only Android SDK is available for download.

The ad format supported so far only includes text and image and advertisers can choose either CPC or CPM based payment model.

Mobile Union is currently a premature release without much data for developers which according to Baidu will be released.

Also read:: Baidu Mobile Search Can Now Find Nearby Restaurants for You

Mobile payment based on RFID technology is gaining popularity in China since China Telecom launched the service last year. eResearch shared some insights on usage of this “short distance” mobile payment.

Where is mobile payment (RFID) made?

Mobile payment based on RFID is more popular in supermarkets, convenience stores, shopping malls and public transport.

Popularity of Different Amount of Mobile Payment

From iResearch’s data, we can see consumers are more comfortable with this mobile payment method for small amount of consumption. Over 38% of mobile payment (RFID) consumers pay for consumptions of fifty yuan and below with this payment method.

Also read:: Baidu Mobile Union for Mobile App Developers

Tencent launched a cross-platform video calling software Weishi in beta last week, which enables iOS and Android device users to video chat with each other.

Weishi is integrated with mobile device address book, providing not only video calling functions but also SMS and email features. Users who want to try out this application need to get an invitation code by SMS.

Screen Captures of Weishi UI

According to PConline.com’s review (Chinese), the video calling quality is not as good as Facetime; but, it’s too early to judge considering it’s still very new. But, its cross-platform capability is a strong selling point for Tencent over Facetime.

Also read:: Total Weibo Users: Sina v.s. Tencent

Image via Wikipedia

China’s total number of mobile phone users continued to rise in the first five months this year, led by a surge in the number of 3G subscribers, according to official data released Friday.

From January to May, China’s total mobile phone subscribers increased by 51.1 million, more than half of which came from 3G users, to 910.1 million, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in a statement on its website.

The number of 3G subscribers jumped by 57 percent to 73.8 million in the first five months, said the MIIT.
The increases in mobile subscribers came alongside a slight decline in fixed-line subscribers which fell by 3.7 million to 290.7 million.

During the first five months, the combined revenues of mobile telecom service providers was 277 billion yuan ($42.8 billion), a year-on-year increase of 13.6 percent, accounting for 71 percent of the telecom sector’s overall revenues, compared with about 68.4 percent for the same period last year, the MIIT said.

China’s Internet users were shifting from dial-up to broadband. From January to May, broadband subscribers grew by nearly 10 percent to 138.5 million, while dial-up users decreased by 129,000 to 5.77 million, according to the statement.

Source: China Daily

Also read:: China’s Mobile Phone Users Exceed 900 Million

China’s cell phone user grew by 41.39 million in the first four months of 2011 to 900.39 million in total, covering nearly two-thirds of the nation’s population, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The number of telephone subscribers exceeded 1.19 billion by the end of April, with the number of fixed-line subscribers dropping by 2.93 million to 291.45 million, according to statistics released Tuesday by the MIIT on its website.

By the end of April, third generation (3G) mobile telecommunication users in China reached 67.57 million, 20.52 million more than that of the end of 2010.

The number of broadband Internet users increased by 9.58 million in the January-April period to 135.92 million, while the number of dial-up connection users dropped by 130,000 to 5.77 million.

China’s telecommunication industry reported a 9.4 percent growth year-on-year in main business revenue for the first four months to 308.36 billion yuan ($47.44 billion), said the MIIT.

via China Daily

Also read:: China’s Total Mobile Phone Subscribers Increased by 51.1 million

According to the latest report from iResearch, China’s mobile internet market reached 6.44 billion yuan (USD 989 million) in Q1 2011, up 43.4% compared to Q1 2010.

eMarketer predicts advertisers in China will spend $717.8 million on mobile in 2012.

Also read:: China Search Market Update Q1 2011

73% of Chinese mobile youth ages 15-24 reported using the mobile internet in the previous 30 days compared to 48% of U.S. mobile youth and 46% of U.K. youth.

China skew male when it comes to messaging, but by a more narrow margin.

Source:  Nielsen

Also read:: China Mobile Internet User Behavior Study 2009

As shown in the graph above, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom each had more than 10 million 3G subscribers at the end of October 2010.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the total number of 3G service subscribers reached 38.64 million at the end of October, up 10.4% month-on-month, and up 295.7% year-on-year.

China Mobile is so far leading with a 43.9% share of the 3G market by subscribers.

Also read:: China’s Total Mobile Phone Subscribers Increased by 51.1 million

According to Opera’s report, physical newspapers are read least frequently by users in China and the United States.

Also read:: Understanding China’s E-commerce Market

According to data released by Enfodesk, Q2 mobile IM market went up by 40 million more active users.

Also read:: QZone Active Users Over 500 Million

Baidu launched its mobile application client in public beta – “Zhangshang (or palm in English) Baidu” on Nov 25, 2009. It currently supports Symbian S60 V3/V5 and windows mobile 5/6.0/6.1 mobile OS.

Baidu Mobile App

Mobile applications include Baidu search, Baidu Post Bar (provides users with a query-based searchable community to exchange views and share knowledge and experiences), and Baidu Zhidao (or Baidu Knows; a query-based searchable community to share knowledge and experience).

Baidu Post Bar Mobile

Baidu Knows Mobile

Mobile search page includes many Baidu products (as shown in the first image above):

• Baidu Wiki
• Baidu Image search
• Baidu News
• Baidu Space
• Baidu dictionary
• Baidu stocks
• Baidu Train & Flights search
• Weather
• History
• 10 popular searches

I tested the mobile search function in Singapore; it was fast. But, it doesn’t suggest related keywords as you type.

Baidu Mobile Search "iphone"

Baidu Mobile Search Results

The first result is highlighted which made me think it was an ad at first. Then, I tested a few more keywords; the first result is always highlighted. I don’t see any sponsored search results yet.

The mobile Baidu Post Bar allows users to share a photo instantly from their mobile phones. And, users can also ask a question at Baidu Knows by uploading a photo. Unlike the normal Internet ones, the mobile apps of the two applications require no verification code, which makes the posting process easier on mobile.

Baidu Mobile Chinese Input

Another mobile product Baidu released yesterday is mobile Chinese input application, which integrates with Baidu search function with popular searches. The Chinese input technology was acquired from Day Hand.

Also read:: 9 Mobile Coupon Apps in China

Do you know that 82.2% of China mobile Internet users are male? At least, it is true at the moment. It’s a cool thing for guys to surf Internet by mobile phones. Not many ladies have enjoyed mobile Internet yet.

Age. Overall China mobile phone Internet users are very young, with over 50.7% between age 18 and 24. 75.1% of China mobile Internet users are between the age of 18 and 30.

Education. Mobile Internet users are mainly distributed in high schools and below, together accounting for 61.3% of total mobile Internet users. Over 20% mobile Internet users own bachelor’s degree and above; mobile Internet seems to be attracting more highly educated users.

Geographics. Almost one quarter of China’s mobile Internet users (24.8%) are from Guangdong province.

1. Guangdong: 24.8%
2. Henan: 8.4%
3. Shandong: 7.5%
4. Hebei: 6.1%
5. Jiangsu: 6.1%
6. Sichuan: 5.4%
7. Fujian: 5.2%
8. Zhejiang: 4.3%
9. Beijing: 4.2%
10. Shanghai: 3.0%

Occupations. Students mobile Internet users are down 21.2% to 19.5% in 2009. 38.9% are white-collar workers, up 9.7% from 2008. Blue-collars are also up to 18.9% from 2008′s 13.9%.

Income. 51.7% of China mobile Internet users’ income is between RMB 1,000 and 3,000; 37.8% below RMB 1,000 (15.1% decrease compared to year 2008); 10.6% above RMB 3,000 (from 2008′s 4.8%). Don’t get misled by “income” because lower income does not necessarily mean “lower spend”. There is a high-spend group of people with very low or event little income, especially the youth born after 1990.

Data payment. Majority (90.2%) of mobile Internet users subscribe to mobile Internet at a monthly flat rate. And, only 9.8% pay by the amount of usage. 58.8%  spend on average over 50 yuan on mobile data service.

61.4% spend below 20 yuan for mobile data usage every month (down from 76.2% last year); and:

• 21-50 yuan: 26.2% (2008: 17.9%)
• 51-100 yuan: 10.3% (2008: 3.8%)
• Above 100 yuan: 2.1% (2008: 2.2%)

Apparently, mobile internet users are spending more on mobile data usage, which is likely the results of tensed competition from three telecoms.

According to three telecoms’ mid-year finance report this year, ARPU (Average revenue per user) of Chinese mobile users is 56.6 yuan. On average, mobile Internet users pay higher phone bills than normal mobile phone users.

Source: iResearch.cn

Also read:: China Internet Statistics 2009 Summary

Everyone wants a piece in capitalizing on China’s recent launch of high-speed 3G services. What’s NetEase going to fight with?

NetEase will focus on three areas: augmented reality, which allows users to conduct searches based on mobile phone photos; mobile language translators; and barcode scanning.

Source: Reuters

Also read:: China Mobile Internet User Behavior Study 2009

Google vice president for global mobile search, Vic Gundotra, for the first time in Beijing demoed the Chinese voice search service for mobile that will be launched in a few weeks. The service will be initially made available for Nokia S60 platform.

Chinese version of Google mobile search adopts the cloud computing and supports Mandarin, English, and a combination of two mixed voice as input method.

Source: Sina (Chinese)

Also read:: Google Search Dropped by Tencent

According to Opera, the top ten mobile websites in China (by the number of total unique users) are:

1. Kong.net
2. baidu.com
3. google.cn
4. xiaonei.com (which is now renren.com)
5. sina.com.cn
6. qq.com
7. hao123.com
8. sohu.com
9. operachina.com
10. taobao.com

Top mobile handsets in China for May 2009

1. Nokia 5000
2. Nokia 7100s
3. Nokia 5220
4. Nokia 6300
5. Nokia 7310c
6. Nokia 5130
7. Nokia 5300
8. Nokia 6120c
9. Nokia 7610s
10. Nokia 3110c

Also read:: Physical newspaper are read least frequently by users in China and the US

China Publishing Science Research Institute has revealed the “National Reading Survey Report”: 18-70 year-old nationals spend on average 4.47 minutes per day reading on mobile phones, which cost on average 17.04 yuan (about US$2.5).

Over 10% of Chinese nationals, whose age is between 14 and 70, use mobile phones to read. Most of them who read with mobile phone are male, younger, higher educated, and higher income groups.

The report also shows that 63.5% of “mobile reading” users are between 18 and 29 years old. And, males with high school education and above spend the longest reading on mobile phones.

via QQ

Also read:: China Mobile Internet User Behavior Study 2009