Asia/Pacific Ex-Japan Mobile Subscribers to Grow at 11% CAGR Reaching 901 million in 2009

Asia/Pacific

IDC Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) enjoyed a strong performance in mobile services in 2004, surpassing growth in the major regions of North America and Western Europe. Total mobile subscribers in APEJ grew a robust 25.6% in 2004 over 2003 to 527.3 million. The 10 key markets in APEJ also saw mobile service revenue grow a healthy 18% in 2004 year on year to US$69.8 billion.

India was the fastest growing market in the region as subscribers more than doubled to 48 million, while China, the Philippines and Thailand were also significant contributors. India's mobile services market saw an overnight expansion due to the conversion of wireless local loop services to full mobility services under the new universal licensing regime. Other factors boosting growth in the region include increasing popularity of prepaid plans, as well as continued network expansion in emerging markets, extending the reach of mobile services to wider segments of the markets. For 2005 a robust 18.6% growth in APEJ mobile service subscribers to 625.5 million.

Led by strong subscriber growth, mobile service penetration in APEJ improved to 20% in 2004, from 16.1% in 2003. However, the diversity of these 10 markets in terms of market maturity, competition, network technology, growth potential, per capital income and service adoption, drew wide differences amongst markets. Five of these markets had reached penetration of 75% and above; namely, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan; while other emerging and less developed markets are catching up fast. But at the other end of the continuum is India, which still lags far behind with mobile service penetration at a paltry 4.5% in 2004. In the next phase of growth for mature markets, 3G services made noticeable progress last year. South Korea enjoyed more than doubling in 3G subscribers, while Australia and Hong Kong saw adoption rates pick up. 3G subscribers totaled 10.2 million in 2004, accounting for 1.9% of the market in APEJ.

Number of Mobile Subscribers in Asia/Pacific Ex-Japan http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=pr2005_06_06_102431 Publ 20050606