Understanding China’s Mobile Market

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We know China is obsessed with the Internet, but this obsession has now reached a higher level with the rise of smartphones.

As technology advances and the Chinese population becomes more affluent, more phone users are surfing the web through their mobile small screens (40% currently).

With a total of 755 million mobile subscribers in China, it makes China the world’s largest mobile device market. Although the average mobile user spent just over USD $10 per month, simple math states that the Chinese mobile service market is worth 7.55 billion per month in revenue. That’s equivalent to $2,900 per second!

Demographics

A whopping 54% of the Chinese mobile users are classified as advanced data users, accessing emails, web browsing and gaming are just some of their day-to-day activities. Almost 9 out of 10 mobile phone users subscribe to prepaid mobile plans, which possibly hints the Chinese’s buying behavior.

Mobile Media Usage

Comparing between US and China, China has a higher proportion of people accessing the Internet through mobile phones. China is also a step ahead when in comes to gaming and instant messaging through mobile devices. Location-based services (LBS), though, aren’t that popular as LBS companies like Foursquare and Gowalla are only starting to gain ground in the US market. Apps download are surprisingly more active in China too.

Mobile Web Visits

In both countries, users surf the Internet for different reasons. Americans tend to shop more, thanks to sites and apps like Groupon and eBay. The Chinese visits health and fitness related sites most, followed by education and automotive sites.

Thoughts

China has an enormous mobile market, no doubt about it. People are actively browsing but there isn’t much development in m-commerce to convert browsers to buyers. This point is especially crucial for the health and fitness and automotive industries. To better leverage China’s mobile browsing behavior, an app and a mobile friendly website just aren’t enough to improve sales.

Perhaps, if your business can support a prepaid model, it could very well satisfy the Chinese’s buying habits and encourage more purchases. But take this advice with a pinch of salt. Buying behavior probably varies with the type of products sold.

There are countless opportunities in China. LBS for example, is one which is underdeveloped in China. Would LBS take off? Or would its firewall continue to restrain such innovations? It remains to be seen.

Nielsen’s Mobile Insights Report on China is based on face-to-face surveys with 4,946 consumers age 15 and up in 19 cities around China.  The interviews were conducted in March 2010.