In Southeast Asia, Chinese apps have an important place in both the download list and the bestseller list.
Editor’s note: article from “DotC United Group Institute of Shipping”.
China Mobile Internet has gone through more than a decade since its exploration, outbreak, and transformation, from the initial testing of Hong Kong and Taiwan, to the development of Japanese and Korean markets, to the exploration of European and American countries, and to Southeast Asia. In the emerging markets, China’s mobile APP products and business models have achieved remarkable results in global output, especially in Southeast Asia, the region that is called the “second China market”, whether it is the download list or the bestseller list, China. APP is in an absolute position.
Southeast Asia is the fastest growing Internet region in the world. It is the fourth largest Internet market in the world. The overall business structure is relatively stable. The business model and development trend are gradually moving from development to maturity. In addition, Southeast Asian countries are advancing as China. The important stage of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, with its huge demographic dividend and the innate advantages of emerging markets, has become the first stop for many Chinese APP manufacturers to go to sea.
Overview of the Internet Market
Market size continues to grow. Young demographic bonus is huge
The total population of Southeast Asia exceeds 650 million, including 11 countries. The economic situation, language, cultural customs, religious beliefs, and Internet infrastructure are different among countries. From the maturity and scale of mobile Internet development, Indonesia Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines are the six major markets in Southeast Asia.
There are statistics showing that in the past 2018, the digital economy market in Southeast Asia totaled approximately US$72 billion. In terms of scale, the six major markets of Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines accounted for 99% of the total market in Southeast Asia. Share, it is estimated that by 2025, the size of the Internet economy market in Southeast Asia will triple, reaching 240 billion US dollars, and the scale of the Internet market will continue to grow.
The Southeast Asia region is directly moving into the mobile Internet era across the PC era. More than 90% of the population access the Internet through mobile devices, which is a mobile-first region.
In terms of user volume, Indonesia is the largest smartphone market in Southeast Asia, with approximately 85.8 million smartphone users, followed by Vietnam and the Philippines, and these three countries are also relatively low in smartphone penetration among the six countries. Countries, based on the continuous development of mobile Internet and policy dividends, the smartphone market in these countries still has a large room for growth, and the smartphone demographic dividend is still obvious.
The overall population structure of the Southeast Asia region is younger. The population under 24 years old accounts for more than 40% of the total population, and the population under 35 years old accounts for 60%. It is a young and vibrant market. The young user community is one of the most important players and consumers in the APP market. Based on the huge young population advantage of Southeast Asian countries, the development of the mobile Internet market in the region still has a huge dividend.
At present, among the six Southeast Asian countries, Singapore is the only developed country in Southeast Asia, with high-end machines leading the market, and Apple users are close to a quarter of the market. In addition to Singapore, other Southeast Asian markets are mainly based on Android phones such as Samsung, oppo, Huawei, vivo and Xiaomi. Among them, Samsung and oppo together account for about 50% of the market share of the entire Southeast Asian mobile phone market. For APP distribution in the Southeast Asian market, whether it is mobile phone pre-installation or application store distribution, domestic manufacturers can refer to this information for cooperation with related mobile phone manufacturers.
The multi-ethnic and multi-national population in Southeast Asia has a large number of languages, including official and common languages. In addition to the mother tongue of each country, English has a certain usage rate in Southeast Asia. Singapore’s English usage rate is as high as 80%, and in the Philippines it is close to 60%. For both countries, English is also its second official language. In Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand have lower English usage rates, no more than 30%.
Language involves the localization of the language of the APP. Before the domestic game APP went to Thailand, the case showed that in Thailand, the localized version of the Thai language has increased by 150%, and there is almost no cultural or linguistic tool for the tool category. The category of barriers may be available in English in these countries, but for some content products, language localization is essential, especially in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand where English usage is low.
Southeast Asia APP Market Status
Tools still have universal social products that are easy to cash in
Statistics Google Play Store Downloads TOP200 The results show that, overall, the “universal” tools are the top picks, accounting for around 15% of the TOP200 countries. In addition, photography, video (including live broadcast, short video, video streaming) classes also occupy an important position. In terms of personality, Philippine users have shown a clear tendency to photography, shopping has performed well in Singapore, and educational APP has a better development advantage in Vietnam.
Statistics on the Google Play Store bestseller TOP200 The results show that, overall, in addition to tools, Dating app is also popular among Southeast Asian users, accounting for 8% to 13% of TOP200, in addition, social class The product is also conducive to cashing. In terms of personality, in the three countries of New Matai, the book category APP is slightly eye-catching, and compared with the download list, the education category is more prominent in the best-selling list in Vietnam, second only to the tools category.