Smartphone and online content contributes to rise of digital in Asia
China has been the world's most populated online market for several years now, with the China Internet Network Information Center recording 649m online users. While this is a staggering figure in sheer scale, it still only represents a penetration rate of 47.9%, compared to developed countries like South Korea (91% UK (87% Japan (86% and the USA (86% meaning there is still significant room for growth.
According to ad agency WPP offshoot, J Walter Thompson Shanghai, much of this growth has come from the rise of cheap smartphones, which are now fast encroaching on traditional markets.
More than 83% of people surveyed listed smartphones as their main device for internet access, compared to 69.6% for desktop and 43.7% for laptops. China is now home to more than 527m people who regularly access the internet via their smartphones, according to the agency's estimation.
Data collected by JWT showed digital advertising spend overtaking TV ad budgets for the first time in 2014, comprising 37% of total spend compared to 32% for TV. Of this, 11.7% was focused on mobile advertising.
Much like other sectors that are dominated by a handful of companies, China's online landscape revolves around the B.A.T. (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) enterprises. The three companies reported combined revenues of $20.4bn in 2013, taking the lion's share in their respective enterprises of search, e-commerce and social networking.
Baidu and Alibaba claimed 500m and 217m users, respectively, last year although were tracking far behind Tencent, whose QQ messaging platform boasted more than 819m users by Q3 last year.