Smartphone Demand Continues to Boom in Hong Kong
Despite the huge popularity of iPhone 4S, Hong Kong consumers are also attracted by other brands
Hong Kong, November 22, 2011 — Experian Hitwise, a leading online competitive intelligence service, today revealed that search traffic on the latest smartphone models from Hong Kong Internet users has significantly increased over the past six months (Figure 1). Despite the popularity of the recently launched iPhone 4S on November 11, the data also shows growing interest in competitive products, with search traffic for the HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy R increasing by 279% and 433% respectively, from week ending October 1 to week ending October 29 (Figure 2).
Figure 1: Weekly share of traffic from each portfolio to All Categories, based on Hong Kong usage
Source: Experian Hitwise Hong Kong, October 2011
Figure 2: Weekly share of traffic from each portfolio to All Categories, based on Hong Kong usage (a closer look at brands excluding iPhone 4S and iPhone 5)
Source: Experian Hitwise Hong Kong, October 2011
Search for iPhone 5 at an all time high until the launch of iPhone 4S
Leading the way among the wide range of smartphone brands, the search term “iPhone 4S” captured the highest share of traffic, accounting for 0.0437% of all Internet traffic week ending October 29.
Share of traffic for the “iPhone 4S” gained momentum immediately after the launch announcement was made on October 4, increasing by 6395% in just one week from 0.0021% to 0.1364% across all internet keyword searches.
Prior to this announcement, due to the long anticipation by consumers, the search term, “iPhone 5” had consistently ranked the highest in terms of share of traffic over the last six months (Figure 1). However, by week ending October 15, traffic from “iPhone 5” had decreased drastically by 96%, and was overtaken by higher search traffic for “iPhone 4S”.
Figure 3: Ranking of the weekly share of traffic from each portfolio to All Categories, based on Hong Kong usage in October 2011
Rank |
Search term |
Clicks (Week ending 29 October) |
Rank (Week ending 29 October) |
Rank (Week ending 22 October) |
Rank (Week ending 15 October) |
Rank (Week ending 8 October) |
Rank (Week ending 1 October) |
1 |
iPhone 4S |
0.0437% |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
HTC Sensation |
0.0178% |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
Samsung Galaxy S |
0.0075% |
3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
iPhone 5 |
0.0061% |
4 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
Nokia Lumia |
0.0042% |
5 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
6 |
HTC Rhyme |
0.0034% |
6 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
7 |
Samsung Galaxy R |
0.0032% |
7 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
8 |
Blackberry Bold |
0.001% |
8 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
9 |
Blackberry Torch |
0.0003% |
9 |
8 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
Source: Experian Hitwise Hong Kong, Month of October 2011
“While it’s evident that the demand for the iPhone 4S is huge, the smartphone industry continues to be a heated battlefield. Not every consumer prefers an iPhone 4S and there are still many brands in the market competing to capture the attention of smartphone users,” said Graeme Beardsell, Chief Customer Development and Marketing Officer, Experian Asia Pacific. “In order to increase the visibility of their products and not fall behind the competition, these companies will require competitive insight, as well as capabilities to monitor search patterns and identify trends in order to plan and execute an effective go-to-market strategy.”
Growing interest in HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy
iPhone 4S was not the only smartphone brand that attracted the interest of Hong Kong consumers. As a result of recent launches from HTC and Samsung, share of traffic for search terms “HTC Sensation” and “Samsung Galaxy R” increased by 279% and 433% respectively, from week ending October 1 to week ending October 29.
In fact “Samsung Galaxy S” has been a strong player in the last two quarters where it peaked in mid-June in terms of search traffic. However, “HTC Sensation” outcompeted it with a product launch in the week ending October 15 and sustained the momentum in the search arena.
END
Notes to editor:
• All categories – All local and international websites surfed by Internet users in Hong Kong, categorised by various topics of interest
• Search click – The website that serves the next page impression after the search results
• Portfolio – Aggregation of search terms relating to each product
About Experian Hitwise
Experian Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Only Experian Hitwise provides its 1,500 clients around the world with daily insights on how their customers interact with a broad range of competitive Web sites and how their competitors use different tactics to attract online customers.
Since 1997, Experian Hitwise has pioneered a unique, network-based approach to Internet measurement. Through relationships with Internet service providers around the world, Experian Hitwise uses its patented methodology to anonymously capture the online usage, search and conversion behaviour of 25 million Internet users. This unprecedented volume of Internet usage data is seamlessly integrated into an easy-to-use, Web-based service designed to help marketers better plan, implement and report on a range of online marketing programs.
Experian Hitwise, operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. More information about Hitwise is available at http://www.hitwise.com/hk
For up-to-date analysis of online trends, visit the Hitwise Intelligence – Analyst Weblogs at http://weblogs.hitwise.com
About Experian Marketing Services
Experian Marketing Services delivers best-in-breed data, analytics and platforms into multiple regions around the globe. It is focused on helping marketers more effectively target and engage their best customers through email, digital advertising, customer data management, customer and competitive insight, data enrichment and list rental, modeling and analytics, and strategic consulting. Through these capabilities, Experian Marketing Services enables organizations to encourage brand advocacy, create measurable return on investment and significantly improve the lifetime value of their customers.
About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 80 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2011 was US$4.2 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 41 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil.
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Contacts:
Margaret Lam
Experian Public Relations
+852 2839 5276
margaret.lam@hk.experian.com