Japan, Canada, most online
p2p news / p2pnet: Japan has overtaken Korea as the country with the most Net users, with Canada now occupying the number two spot, says a new study.
In fact, Net adoption appears to be plateauing in the US and Canada where regular usage in 2005 was essentially flat, compared to 2004, it says.
Moreover, global Net adoption is showing signs of slowing, with many of the world’s leading Net economies showing "modest year-over-year growth," says an Ipsos Insight study for 2005.
The global online population grew 5% compared to 2004’s 20% growth rate observed in 2004, and the number of people expecting to go online in the next 12 months was about the same in 2005 as 2004, "indicating prospects for growth in 2006 may be just as temperate," says the company.
"Driving overall global Internet user growth in 2005 was Japan, which now accounts for roughly 75 million users.
"Japan also remains the world’s No.1 Internet-based economy, as nearly nine in 10 (89%) claim to have used the Internet in the past 30 days, while users averaged nearly 14 hours per week online.
"France witnessed the most significant year-over-year gains in Internet adoption among the 12 global markets tracked in the study: today, just over 60% of adults age 18 or older in France use the Internet regularly, representing more than a 12-point increase from 2004 (48%)."
Canada and the US may be slowing down in terms of Net pick-up, but they’re still important players in the evolving global Internet economy, says Ipsos.
Key trends emerged in 2005 included:
In North America, the rising level of notebook PC ownership is fueling significant growth in wireless access.
In Canada and the US, at least one-third of people have hooked up wirelessly in the past 30 days – significantly higher than rates seen in 2004, says Ipsos.
"The U.S. and Canada also have some of the highest rates of Wi-Fi awareness and usage, as roughly two in five that have that have heard of Wi-Fi technology have actually used it to access the Internet," it says.
In Europe, France and Germany appear poised to drive global Internet growth in 2006, as does urban Russia where Net usage remains a nascent activity, but is on the rise.
In addition, "future growth in wireless Internet access via handset/cell phone looks promising in Europe as well, particularly in France and the U.K., while usage and/or access to VoIP telephony (Voice over Internet Protocol) is also rising steadily in France, Germany and the U.K., indicating these nations may be emerging as the early adopter markets for this Internet technology," says Ipsos, adding:
"In East Asia, the urban China market is quickly evolving into one of the most dynamic Internet-based economies in the world, as it boasts not only the heaviest Internet usage of any of the countries measured (17.9 hrs/week online), but also may have room to grow; only 50% of individuals have accessed the Internet in the past 30 days here, far behind usage in other major East Asian markets such as Japan (89%) and South Korea (68%), providing a glimpse of urban China’s potential. Another important factor to watch: whether the PC will continue to be the dominant platform for accessing the Internet, as over 90% of all households in the major East Asian markets own at least one cell phone."
