Given China’s population and growing economy, is it really all that surprising that companies such as Apple and Lenovo are starting to focus their efforts and resources towards pushing more of their products in the country? Hardly, and if you’re wondering why this is such a big deal, here are some numbers for you to digest.
According to a recent government report released by China, it seems that China’s internet population has grown to a whopping 649 million users by the end of 2014. This is an increase of 31 million from the previous year and while growth is slowing down, 31 million new additions is nothing to sneeze at.
However out of that 649 million internet users, can you guess how many are accessing the internet from their mobile devices? Try 557 million, an eye-watering 86%. Mobile internet users, compared to normal internet users, has seen slightly faster growth at 57 million, which is why like we said, we’re not surprised that Apple is trying to do more business in the country, and why Chinese companies such as Lenovo are starting to bring some of their assets back into the country.
There is still a lot of potential for companies to try and vie for market share. The country’s internet penetration rate is at 47.9%, and China’s rural areas only account for a quarter of the total. This is compared to other countries such as the US where in 2013, the US Census Bureau put the number of households that use the internet at 74.4%.
Filed in . Read more about China.