Vietnam tops mobile Net spending

The Hanoitimes - A survey conducted by Yahoo! o­n the use of internet via smart phones and other mobile devices in Southeast Asia found that consumers in Vietnam spent o­n average US $24 a month accessing the internet while o­n the move, more than in any other country in the region.

Meanwhile, Vietnam ranks second in terms of mobile internet growth (60% in 2011) behind Malaysia in Southeast Asia.

Yahoo! found that mobile net users in Vietnam were mostly males aged between 15 and 24 and that most were accessing the internet via a smart phone costing between VND2 million and VND4 million ($96-$192).

David Jeffs, from Yahoo! Southeast Asia, said mobile internet users accounted for o­ne-third of all net users in Vietnam. He said he expected to see significant growth in mobile net use in Da Nang and Can Tho.

According to Yahoo! research, Vietnamese users accessed mobile internet chiefly to chat, email and search the web, while users from other countries in Southeast Asia were mainly concerned with accessing social networking sites.

Nokia mobile phones are widely used to access the internet, accounting for 51% of the market, followed by Samsung (16%), LG (7%), Apple (6%), Sony Ericson (5%), Q-Mobile (4%) and Blackberry (3%).