Asian countries lead the world in creating digital homes, with Taiwan and Korea at the forefront, says a study.
The research, carried out by US market research firm Parks Associates, looked at digital living trends in 13 markets in Asia, Europe and North America.

The findings were announced at the annual Broadcast Asia trade show, held in Singapore.

Between 600 and 1,400 households in each country took part in the survey of consumer habits in the wired world.

One of the main themes of the survey is the "digital living index".

This examines the availability, adoption, and use of technology-driven products and services in each individual country.

Asian tech giants Taiwan and Korea came first and second in the index, followed by the US, Canada, Japan, and Australia.

Five European countries - the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy - came in sixth to eleventh place, with China and India in the last two spots.

Despite the low ranking of China and India, they still have large digital markets in key urban areas because of their high populations, the survey noted.

Within Asia, individual countries are developing distinct areas of leadership in driving the digital trend, the survey found.

For example, Korea was ahead in computer gaming and Japan in video gaming and mobile phone use.

Consumers in Hong Kong are forging ahead with IPTV take-up, while Taiwan leads the world in home networking.

This huge uptake of digital technology in Asia over Europe and North America, is for a number of reasons believes John Barrett of Parks Associates.

He says that at least one major difference between the two markets is the wider availability of content and deeper broadband penetration in the Asian countries.

This meant that Asians were more likely to use computers as entertainment platforms, he said.

From the article "Digital living takes off in Asia,' by Peter Feuilherade
 

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