HKU Releases Survey on Personal Technology Adoption Among Hong Kong PeopleBack

Hong Kong, February 28, 2002 - Mobile phone tops the list of personal technology possession, as uncovered in the first Nokia Personal Technology Adoption Survey conducted in Hong Kong by The University of Hong Kong.

The Survey, conducted in early January this year, among 1,506 Hong Kong Cantonese-speaking residents aged 18 or above, is the first of its kind to explore the level and trend of personal technology adoption, as well as their relative importance in society. It was sponsored by Nokia (Hong Kong) Limited, but designed and conducted independently by the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at The University of Hong Kong.

The Nokia Personal Technology Adoption Survey measured the possession of ten popular personal technology tools in Hong Kong: mobile phone, desktop computer, private email account, notebook computer, digital camera or digital video camera, broadband service, game console, MP3, PDA and personal homepage. Mobile phone has a possession rate of 82%, as compared to 54% for desktop computers, 41% for private email account and 35% for TV game. Mobile phone's adoption rate is particularly high among the 21 to 29 year old group at 98%, compared with an 86% computer adoption rate for the same age group. Mobile phone was also rated as the most important personal technology tool.

From a sociological perspective, the Nokia Personal Technology Adoption Survey showed a positive impact of technology on people's lives. Nearly 70% of the respondents said that mobile phones made their lives better, while less than half said that the Internet improved their lives.

The Survey also showed huge untapped market opportunities for mobile value-added services. Currently 36% of the respondents have tried downloading service for computer, mobile phone or PDA. For those willing to pay for downloading service, more than 65% of them said they were ready to pay up to HK$3 for a ring tone, a screen logo or a picture message. For game download, 63% of them said they were willing to pay up to HK$6, another 21% of them were willing to pay more than HK$6 but up to HK$10, and another 16% of them were willing to pay more than HK$10. This underscores the attractive business opportunity to games developers, publishers and providers, and presents an incremental revenue stream for operators.

With one of the world's highest mobile phone penetrations, however, a low level of information technology (IT) proficiency and personal technology adoption is found among the Hong Kong population. Most Hong Kong people (43%) regard themselves as not so IT proficient. When asked to rate their IT proficiency on a scale of 0-10, most respondents gave a below-average rating for themselves, resulting in a mean score of 4.1 only. Although most people said IT was either quite important or very important to them, more than half (56%) of the respondents currently owned three IT tools or less, and some (15%) did not even own any personal technology product.

The Survey also showed divided opinion on the satisfaction level towards Hong Kong Government's IT policies. Thirty percent of the respondents were generally satisfied with the policies, compared to 18% who were dissatisfied, and an even higher percentage (33%) showed no opinion or felt indifferent.

Respondents were successfully interviewed by the research team through telephone survey during the period of January 4 to 9, 2002. The effective response rate was 65.1% and the standard error due to sampling was no more than 1.3%. Relevant figures and methodological notes are now available at the HKU POP website (http://hkupop.pori.hk).

About the Public Opinion Programme

The Public Opinion Programme (POP) was established in June 1991 to collect and study public opinion on topics which could be of interest to academics, journalists, policy-makers, and the general public. POP was at first under the Social Sciences Research Centre, a unit under the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Hong Kong, and was transferred to the Journalism and Media Studies Centre in the University of Hong Kong in May 2000. In January 2002, it was transferred back to the Faculty of Social Sciences in the University of Hong Kong.

Since its establishment, POP has conducted more than 450 surveys, many of which were commissioned or sponsored by outside bodies. For academic surveys, areas mainly covered electoral studies, media development, political issues, social issues and youth studies. A variety of research designs are used for POP surveys, including telephone, postal, door-to-door surveys and group interviews. Regular project collaborators include leading media companies, government bodies and public organizations.

About Nokia

A leader in the cellular industry in many markets in Asia Pacific, Nokia provides innovative, industry-leading and market relevant technology and products to around 20 diverse markets in the region.

Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is one of the most broadly held companies in the world with listings on six major exchanges.

You may visit the Nokia Asia-Pacific website at http://www.nokia-asia.com or the Nokia Group website at http://www.nokia.com