Consumer Electronics
Penetration By Country
Domestic consumption has become the primary driver of technology innovation and production across Asia. Wireless communication is leading the technology revolution, with penetration in many countries exceeding that of the U.S. by a wide margin. While penetration appears lower in China, that is simply because of that country’s vast population—in raw numbers, it’s the world’s largest wireless market. And Asian countries, notably Japan and South Korea, are the early adopters of 3G mobile technology—devices that make full-scale mobile Internet access possible—which has yet to appear in many Western countries.
Sources: Asia.com, Credit Suisse estimates, Gartner 2006, IDC, Nelison. 1Korea penetration rate is based on EV-DO subscriber numbers whereas the subscribers in other countries are based on WCDMA.