Mobile Websites Growing in China

Using a mobile phone to browse the internet in China has considerably taken off towards the end of 2012, with an ever increasing amount of the public deciding to choose their mobile phones to browse the internet rather than traditionally sitting in front of a desktop.

Some interesting statistics*:

• At the end of 2012 there were 564 million internet users in China which calculates as 42.1% of the total population
• Out of 564 million internet users, 420 million decides to use their mobile to surf the internet which accounts for 74.5% of the total internet browsing population
• The level of mobile browsing in China has become significantly higher than in the West.

The stats indicate the significance of mobile internet browsing in China. Therefore, in order for your company to have a significant brand image standing in the competitive Chinese market, a well designed mobile website is what your company should be looking to build.

The importance of mobile only site

Mobile website should be a slimmer version of your normal desktop website. The information on a mobile website needs to precise, highlighted to grab the browser’s attention instantly. Depending on your industry, the amount of information added to the mobile website should indicate what your organisation is, the services you provide, important events and most importantly contact information. This way, the first-time visitor will be able to gather the information needed with a simple few clicks and if successful, get them to contact you for potential business opportunities.

IOS vs. Android in China

Despite Apple getting all the buzz and market prestige with their IOS devices, in China it is Android that is leading the race to market dominance. Analysis International revealed that as of 1Q12, Android accounted for as much as 77% of the China Smartphone market, while the market share of iOS dropped to roughly 12%.

They attribute the reason for this to affordability and ever-decreasing price of Android devices. Also there is an increasing number of “Shanzhai” or, white box, smart phones bringing down the Average Selling Prices, which dropped to roughly RMB1670 in 1Q12 from RMB2300 in 1Q11.

With this growing trend to use mobile devices, it only underlines the fact that we all need to consider our mobile digital strategy carefully in 2013.

* (date source: CNNIC)

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