Internet Applications - 1:Basic Usage of Internet Applications

Overall, the proportion of users that use search engines, instant messaging, online music, online video and other mainstream online applications has fallen. This is mainly related to the rapid increase in the number of netizens. New netizens gradually enter the online world through the use of one application or just a few applications. Not many of them use other online applications and the applications they do use are not all the same. If experienced internet users do not begin to use other applications faster than new users come online, the overall internet application usage rate drops.

 

At 78.5%, the usage rate of online media is almost 5% greater than it was in 2007. The number of users of online media increased by 79 million, reaching 234 million.

 

	2007		2008		Change
	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Increase (Millions)	Rate of Increase
Online News	73.6%	155	78.5%	234	79	51.0%

 

Interactivity is one of the most important characteristics of online news. Online news has allowed traditional one-way broadcasting to give way to two-way or multi-way communication. Online news has resulted in the combination of several types of media. This means it is even more expressive and infective.

 

Major events, such as the reporting of the Olympics, have brought online media into the ranks of mainstream media.

 

Search engines are basic applications that allow users to acquire the information they demand online. Currently, 68% of netizens use search engines, which is the fourth highest usage rate of all internet applications. In 2008, the total number of search engine users in the country increased by 51 million, which is a 33.6% increase over last year. Due to the rapid increase in the total number of internet users, the proportion of less-educated netizens increased. The rate that these netizens use search engines is relatively low, resulting in an overall decrease in the usage rate for search engines.

 

	2007		2008		Change
	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Increase (Millions)	Rate of Increase
Search Engines	72.4%	152	68.0%	203	51	33.6%
Online Job Search	10.4%	22	18.6%	55	33	150.0%

 

The usage of search engines shows wide variation in relation to the age, education and income of users as well as whether the users live in urban or rural areas. The search engine usage rate for urban netizens is clearly higher than that of rural netizens. Netizens aged 20-40 use search engines more than netizens of other age groups. Search engine usage rates are higher for those netizens with higher education levels. Also, search engine usage rates increase with income. The characteristics of the users of search engines have resulted in search engines being one of the internet industry’s applications with a higher business value.

 

In 2008 the email usage rate was 56.8%, which is the same as 2007. The research shows that email usage increases with education. Users that work in administrative jobs and managerial jobs as well as students clearly use email more than users of other professions. Along with the further popularity of the internet, the average education of netizens will continue to slide towards the low side. Furthermore, due to the rising popularity of the internet in offices, more and more employees are using email. Considering the above two factors together, the number of email users should continue to increase and this increase will be especially pronounced for employees. However, since users with a lower level of education are continuously pouring into the total army of internet users, the future email usage rate will tend to be low.

 

	2007		2008		Change
	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Increase (Millions)	Rate of Increase
Email	56.5%	119	56.8%	269	50	42.0%
Instant Messaging	81.4%	171	75.3%	224	53	31.0%

 

The features provided by instant messaging programs are growing. Instant messaging is becoming a linking point for the socialized internet. Additionally, instant messaging platforms are gradually becoming an important entry point for email, blogs, online gaming, search and other types of internet applications. The usage rate for instant messaging was 75.3% in 2008. In comparison to 2007, there were 53 million more users of instant messaging, but the usage rate went down 6.1%. Analyzing by age, the proportion of users of instant messaging aged over 40 rose over the last year.  This is becase the primary increase in the number of users was with users aged 40 and over,  the instant messaging usage rate for those aged under 40 decreased.

 

The number of friend-finding websites in 2008 grew relatively greatly since 2007. The current usage rate is 19.3%. Dating websites increased their influence by cooperating with television stations and other traditional media forms. The recognition rate of dating websites also rose and the number of users is continuing to increase. School and career friend-finding models developed very quickly in 2008. By relying on current users, these websites added even more new users. The variety of application types (on-page games for example) and usage methods (mobile friend-finding for example) helped stimulate the increase in the number of users even more.

 

	2007		2008		Change
	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Increase (Millions)	Rate of Increase
Have a Blog	-	-	54.3%	162	-	-
Updated Their Blog	23.5%	49	35.2%	105	56	114.3%
Forum/BBS	-	-	30.7%	91	-	-
Friend-finding Websites	-	-	19.3%	58	-	-

 

The number of blog users continued to rise rapidly. As of December 2008, of the 298 million Chinese netizens, the proportion of netizens with blogs reached 54.3%.  This means there are 162 million blog users. At the same time the number of users increased, the level of activity of blogs in China increased – within a half-year the proportion of blogs that were updated was 11.7% higher than in 2007. The increase in the number of blogs has brought economies of scale with respect to the concentration of users. Blog channels on all types of websites have become standard. Of these, the addition of blogs to SNS websites has further pushed forth an increase in the number of blog users. The influence of blogs has further increased.

 

The number of online gamers continued to rise in 2008. The proportion of those using online games increased from 59.3% in 2007 to 62.8% in 2008. This is mainly due to the abundance of game types and game content. The variety of online games increased their expandability with users of the older and younger age groups. Additionally, browser games, as a new form of game, developed rapidly in 2008. Since this type of game does not need to be downloaded by the user and is convenient to use, users are likely to play them at work. Also, the addition of browser games to SNS websites further increased the distribution of online games.

 

	2007		2008		Change
	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Increase (Millions)	Rate of Increase
Online Gaming	59.3%	125	62.8%	187	62	49.6%
Online Music	86.6%	182	83.7%	249	67	36.8%
Online Video	76.9%	161	67.7%	202	41	25.5%

 

Online music is still the most used application. Although the proportion of users dropped from 86.6% in 2007 to 83.7% in 2008, the number of users still increased by 67 million. The widespread popularity of online music comes from the popular content as well as its convenience. The entry barrier for users is relatively low. Also, these characteristics have made online music one of the main forces pushing forward internet usage.

 

The number of users of online video has only increased slightly. It only increased by 40 million since 2007, reaching 202 million users. Online video users are mainly in the 30 and under age group.

 

E-business is an application that is closely related to netizen’s lives. Over the past year, the number of online marketplaces has clearly grown. The number of online shoppers has already reached 74 million – an increase of 60% over last year. China’s usage rate for online shopping is low compared to countries such as South Korea and USA which have rates of 60.6% and 71% respectively.

 

 Chart 14   Comparison of Users of E-Business-type Applications in 2007 and 2008

	2007		2008		Change
	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Increase (Millions)	Rate of Increase
Online Shopping	22.1%	46	24.8%	74	28	60.9%
Online Selling	-	-	3.7%	11	-	-
Online Payment	15.8%	33	17.6%	52	19	57.6%
Travel Bookings	-	-	5.6%	17	-	-

 

 

Except for online shopping, online sales and travel bookings have already established a beginning user base. The number of users that sell online has already reached 11 million and the number of users that make travel bookings online has reached 17 million. What is worth noting is that “online sales” does not only include starting an online store, but also includes selling second-hand goods online.

 

Online payment systems, which are closely related to online shopping, have been developing extremely fast. Currently, the number of users has already reached 52 million, which is 57.6% greater than last year. This is effectively pushing forward the development of online shopping.

 

The growth of online banking slowed in 2008. The current usage rate is 19.3%. The main users of online banking are university students and white collar workers. Most university students have already setup a bank account by the time they enter school, making school management and student/family financial management convenient. University students, white collar workers and others with a high level of education have a relatively high skill level when it comes to using the internet. They have a strong demand for online banking but do not fully trust the security of online banking and this affects the usage rate.

 

	2007		2008		Change
	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Increase (Millions)	Rate of Increase
Online Banking	19.2%	40	19.3%	58	18	45.0%
Online Trading	18.2%	38	11.4%	34	-4	-10.5%

 

 

The main users of online trading websites are employees of enterprises and professional technical staff as well as some university students. Online trading behaviour is directly related to the changes in the stock market. After enduring the effects on China’s financial markets, the use of online trading applications in China fell. The usage rate in 2008 was only 11.4% and the number of users dropped by 4 million.

 

The usage rate for online education was 16.5% in 2008, which is basically the same as 2007. The users are primary and middle school students as well as regular employees.

 

 

	2007		2008		Change
	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Usage Rate	Number of Netizens (Millions)	Increase (Millions)	Rate of Increase
Online Education	16.6%	35	16.5%	49	14	40.0%

 

The “Network for Every School” project advanced the communication between China’s primary and middle schools and the construction of internet access platforms for these schools. Also, over the past few years the primary and middle school in-class courses already cannot satisfy the expectations of students’ parents. All types of online supplementary classes and courses have begun to become study material for primary and middle school students. Also, along with the increase in work-related stress, regular employees are paying more attention to professional skills training. English, accounting and other online educational courses are recommended by regular employees because they are easier to access during any time of the day and are relatively cheap. Online education will have room for further development within the next few years.