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Gartner Dataquest Says New Cellular Users in Asia/Pacific Reached 17 Million Subscribers in Second Quarter of 2000
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Singapore, November 1, 2000 - More than 17 million customers signed up for mobile phone service in the Asia/Pacific region during the second quarter of 2000, despite signs of slowdown in some key markets, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). At the end of June 2000, the total number of cellular users in Asia/Pacific had grown to 188 million subscribers.
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"The growth of pre-paid services and intense competition in markets like Hong Kong and South Korea have soaked up large numbers of lower-yield subscribers during the past year," said Nick Ingelbrecht, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest's Asia/Pacific mobile research group. "Operators are struggling to reverse the slide in average subscriber revenue with the introduction of more attractive service packages, especially mobile Internet products, ahead of the rollout of 2.5G and 3G services during the coming 12 to 24 months."
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Gartner Dataquest analysts said operators are having some success introducing higher priced service plans in the Philippines. The popularity of short message service (SMS) coupled with aggressive handset subsidies and the take-up of prepaid services are driving subscriber growth in the country.
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Mobile Internet services and new color displays on mobile handsets have helped spur subscriber growth in the Japanese market, although growth did ease in the second quarter.
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"In the developing markets -- notably China, India and Indonesia - there is fairly limited interest in mobile data services, but still plenty of room for traditional subscriber growth with structural reform and some consolidation likely to promote competition and network investment," Mr. Ingelbrecht said.
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Through the first half of 2000, the total number of cellular users in Asia/Pacific reached 188 million subscribers. Cellular subscriber growth continued to accelerate in China, which topped 60.6 million subscribers at the end of June, and at its current rate, the country is projected to pass 76 million subscribers by the end of this year.
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"China's second carrier, Unicom, is starting to realize the benefits of improving network coverage, as well as better marketing and distribution arrangements," said Ann Liang, industry analyst for Gartner Dataquest's Asia/Pacific cellular phone research group. "Unicom now has 18 percent of the national subscriber base, which represents a critical level of market share and, with the help of favorable government policies, particularly on pricing, it is increasingly able to compete on a more equal footing with China Mobile."
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Additional analysis is available in the Gartner Dataquest Research Brief "Asia/Pacific Cellular Market: First Half 2000 Review." This document examines the continued development of the mobile telephony market in Asia/Pacific and Japan. The report identifies the leaders in cellular services in each country.
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This research is published by Gartner's worldwide Telecommunications and Networking group. This group provides analysis for the full spectrum of telecom and networking issues. To keep up to date on the latest telecommunication issues, please visit Gartner's Telecom Marketplace Resource Center at http://www.gartner.com/public/static/telecom/telecom.html.
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To purchase the report or subscribe to Gartner Dataquest programs, please call 800-419-DATA, or 408-468-8009. More information about Gartner Dataquest's programs, descriptions of recent research reports, and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at www.dataquest.com.
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