Азиатско-тихоокеанский регион демонстрирует сокращение чистых подключений в 4Q08. Даже рождественские распродажи не смогли изменить ситуацию.

Экономический спад оказал заметное негативное влияние на число новых подключений, в 4Q08 оно сократилось на 20 млн по отношению к 3Q08, который и сам традиционно не блещет подключениями.

Новые исследования, проведенные Informa Telecoms & Media показывают, что мобильные подключения в азиатско-тихоокеанском регионе снизились на 22.6% с 87.69 млн в 3Q08 до 67.91 млн в 4Q08. Такой тренд последний раз отмечался в 2002 году.

Наибольший вклад в сокращение подключений внес Китай - именно этот регион обеспечил более половины всего сокращения, подключения упали на 56.65% с 23.39 млн в 3Q08 до 10.14 млн в 4Q08.

Источник информации: MForum.ru по материалам пресс-релиза Informa Telecoms & Media

Asia Pacific sees drop in 4Q08 net additions as Christmas period fails to ignite mobile sales

25 March, 2009. The economic slowdown has impacted the Asia Pacific mobile industry hard with the number of new mobile users signed up over the Christmas sales period falling almost 20 million in 4Q08 from 3Q08 - traditionally the slowest quarter in the calendar.

New research from Informa Telecoms & Media shows that mobile net additions in the Asia Pacific region declined 22.6% from 87.69 million in 3Q08 to just 67.91 million in 4Q08. The last Christmas reversal came in 2002 when net adds fell 5.9% from 26.75 million in 3Q02 to 25.17 million in 4Q02.

“Economic woes, subscriber base clean ups in China, Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well as less competition in Indonesia contributed to the uncharacteristic fall in net additions,” said Nicole McCormick, senior analyst at Informa.

China alone accounted for more than half of the region’s total decline in net adds, falling 56.65% from 23.39 million in 3Q08 to just 10.14 million in 4Q08.

However, the blip in China appears to be a one-off as China Telecom culled 13.3 million inactive subscriptions in the month of October alone after taking control of China's Unicom's CDMA business.

Meanwhile, 4Q08 spelled continued bad news for operators in Pakistan and Bangladesh with net adds decreasing by 112.4% and 26.2% respectively compared with 3Q08. In both countries mobile growth was impacted by the crackdown on unregistered SIM cards and economic factors.

Pakistan recorded a net loss of almost 300,000 subscribers, compared with almost 6 million net adds in 2Q08 and 2.18 million net adds in 3Q08. Indonesia also took a hit in terms of growth, with net adds falling from 14 million in 2Q08 to 13.15 million in 3Q08, before more than halving to 6.36 million in 4Q08.

“It came as little surprise that Indonesia’s net adds slowed quite considerably in 4Q08, since the fierce price war ignited by third-ranked player Excelcomindo in 2Q07 finally eased,” said McCormick. “Moreover, many customers that took on a cheap second SIM card during the recent promotions, reverted back to a single SIM card in 4Q08.”

Meanwhile, India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam were among the few bright spots in 4Q08. India added nearly three times more new subscriptions than China with almost 30 million net adds in 4Q08, up 10.7% on 3Q08’s net adds of close to 27 million. “Low tariffs, widening network coverage and cheaper handsets remain the key drivers of mobile growth in India,” said McCormick.

Informa Telecoms & Media warns that Asia’s worsening economies spell particularly bad news for countries, such as China, India and Pakistan - and even Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, now focusing on rural communities to drive growth.

Source: press-release Informa Telecoms & Media