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China now has more internet users on mobile devices than PCs
Want to know why traditionally PC-centric companies like Microsoft are pouring so much energy into their mobile efforts? Look no further than China, which now says that more of its residents are getting online with phones and tablets than PCs. Of the 632 million internet users recorded this June, 83 percent (527 million) were using mobile devices at least some of the time; meanwhile, 81 percent (512 million) hopped on using computers. Internet adoption was almost exclusively driven by ultra-portable gadgets, in fact. While overall internet use grew about 2.3 percent in the space of half a year, the number of mobile surfers jumped by 5.4 percent. The growth pattern suggests that many first-timers don't have a PC at all -- whatever's in their pockets may be the only way they connect to the digital world.
Smartphone overtakes PC as primary internet device in China
The Chinese government has issued a study revealing that the smartphone has overtaken the PC as the most popular device to surf the internet with. China's Internet Network Information Center revealed that 538 million people -- around 40 percent of the country have internet access. It recorded 388 million instances of surfing from a mobile handset, compared to the 380 recorded from PCs. Microblogs are also popular, with around 43.8 percent of phone users documenting the minutiae of their lives on Weibos like Sina and Tencent -- which reminds us, we need to tweet about what we're having for dinner.
Statistics point to China's growing significance in MMO industry
We've been mentioning a bit about some of the regulatory issues in China affecting massively multiplayer online games, particularly as they concern some Western game companies. However, a number of gamers in the West have wondered something along the lines of, "What does this have to do with me?" Well, in terms of Western markets directly, not much. But China is significant for the MMO industry seen as a whole.China will be the world's largest MMO market moving forward and as broadband speeds and penetration increase, the numbers of online gamers will keep rising. The current regulatory changes put forth by China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) stands to have a major impact on how online games are operated in this market, ranging from implementation of a "fatigue system" (where play time is limited each day) to censorship of game content. The country has over 55.5 million online gamers, with a total market for virtual transactions between USD 1.4 billion and 1.9 billion (RMB 10-13 billion), according to 2008 statistics released by the China Internet Network Information Center (as reported in English by JLM Pacific Epoch).
