More SEA net users choose to go mobile

Nearly 61% of users in Southeast Asia are likely to access the internet via a mobile phone within the next 12 months, Nielsen in its latest study concluded.The study further revealed that one-third (33%) intended to access the Internet via other handheld multimedia devices such as tablet computers.Although figures reveal that personal computers remain the primary means of getting online for SEA Internet users (94 %), a growing proportion of users is beginning to turn to alternative devices such as their mobile phone as primary means of accessing the Internet."Southeast Asians have been very quick to embrace new technology such as Smartphones and tablets which provide on-the-go access to the Internet," Matt Bruce, Nielsen's managing director of audience measurement in the APMEA Region, said."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."Tapping into this growing demand for "anytime, anywhere" Internet access, Nielsen has just announced enhancements to its website tagging service, Market Intelligence, enabling website owners to, for the first time, monitor the make-up of traffic to their sites based on device type.Nielsen's enhanced Market Intelligence service will also report on the ultra-competitive operating system (OS) space, comparing Microsoft's Windows OS with others such as Mac OS, iOS (the operating system used on Apple's iPhone and iPad) and Android."With the lion's share of Internet activity being driven by PCs, Windows remains the front-runner in operating systems," Bruce said."If we look at operating systems in use for Smartphones or Tablets specifically, however, these numbers look quite different. As non-PC Internet activity continues to ramp up, operating systems such as iOS and Android will begin to account for a much larger portion of web traffic."He also added that for those in the business of creating content for the Internet, such as media owners, understanding the types of devices and operating systems consumers are using to access websites is critical to ensuring their content is tailored appropriately.