61% of Internet users in Southeast Asia to get access via mobile phones

And one third intend to access the Internet via other handheld multimedia devices within the next 12 months.

The exponential growth in popularity of Internet-enabled multimedia devices is resulting in increases in non-PC based web traffic, and many Internet users in Southeast Asia now access the Internet via a device other than their PC, such as mobiles and tablet devices, according to recent figures released by leading global information and measurement company, Nielsen.

The Nielsen figures reveal that while personal computers remain the primary means of getting online for SEA Internet users (94%), a growing proportion are turning to alternative devices and four percent say their mobile phone is their primary means of accessing the Internet. Use of portable devices as a means to access the Internet is expected to continue to grow in the future, with 61 percent of Internet users indicating they would access the Internet via a mobile phone within the next 12 months, and one third intended to access the Internet via other handheld multimedia devices such as tablet computers.

At the end of 2010, Nielsen estimated Smartphone penetration amongst SEA netizens to be around 20 percent. In addition, close to one in two SEA Internet users who did not already own a Smartphone at the end of 2010 intended to purchase a Smartphone in 2011, with this expected spike in Smartphone ownership adding fuel to mobile Internet usage, particularly if data plans become more affordable.

“Southeast Asians have been very quick to embrace new technology such as Smartphones and tablets which provide on-the-go access to the Internet,” notes Matt Bruce, Nielsen’s Managing Director of Audience Measurement in the APMEA Region. “The rapid upswing in ownership of Internet-enabled devices is now starting to play out in terms of the make-up of Internet activity and our clients increasingly need to gauge what proportion of their web traffic can be attributed to devices other than PCs.”