Mobile phone in Asia surges

Mobile phone in Asia surges

SINGAPORE (AFP): Mobile phone ownership in Asia has surged with young adults driving the boom, despite the regional economic crisis which dampened consumer spending, according to a poll released here Wednesday.

Ownership in seven economies surveyed jumped between 30 and 70 percent in the year to last April, with Hong Kong leading the surge, according to Asian Market Intelligence AsiaBUS (AMI) which conducted the survey.

The survey covered 1,000 adults each in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan, the Hong Kong-based AMI said.

Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines each experienced a 30 to 40 percent rise in mobile phone ownership over the period, while Indonesia, the hardest hit by the crisis, saw a rise of two percent.

Young adults, those aged 18 to 30, are the main drivers of growth in mobile phone ownership, AMI said.