China Ahead Of US In Broadband Adoption; Forrester Extends Its Consumer Technology Research To Asia Pacific.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Metropolitan China leads the United States in broadband adoption, according to a new report on global Internet access and activities by Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR). The US ranks behind South Korea, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, Sweden, and metropolitan China in terms of broadband adoption. Forty percent of US households have high-speed Internet access versus 41 percent in metropolitan China (including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Chengdu). The broadband adoption data for China comes from Forrester's new Asia Pacific Consumer Technology Adoption Study, which surveyed more than 6,000 consumers in the region.

"These findings are a wake-up call for US vendors, telecom executives, legislators, and regulators, given that broadband is a key building block for the global economy," said John C. McCarthy, vice president of Forrester's Asia Pacific Research. "The United States' early lead in Internet adoption is not a guarantee that the US will remain competitive as new technologies recast the Internet landscape."

The study also measured consumer adoption across a wide range of Internet activities, including communication, commerce, and entertainment. Consumers in the UK, US, and Sweden lead in online shopping. And email is consistently the top online activity across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

"The urban Chinese take advantage of their bandwidth for a whole range of online activities," says Michaela Ion, Asia Pacific consumer technology researcher at Forrester. "In fact, the Chinese are the leading adopters of entertainment-oriented activities like playing games, downloading music, and streaming video -- which puts them at an advantage in a world increasingly driven by the sophistication of engagement with the Internet."

Forrester's Consumer Research Covers More Than Two-Thirds Of The World's GDP 

With the launch of consumer technology adoption research in Asia Pacific, Forrester now provides marketing executives with the data and insights they need to understand global consumers. Leveraging more than 10 years of large-scale research on consumers' use of technology, Forrester provides global comparability across 16 of the world's largest economies in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

Forrester's Asia Pacific Consumer Technology Adoption Study conducts two surveys annually. Each survey comprises a sample of 6,000 consumers that includes 1,000 respondents from each Asia Pacific country except Australia, where the sample size is 2,000 consumers. For more information, visit www.forrester.com/Products/MarketResearch/Consumer/AsiaPacific.

About Forrester Research

Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) is an independent technology and market research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice about technology's impact on business and consumers. For 23 years, Forrester has been a thought leader and trusted advisor, helping global clients lead in their markets through its research, consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs. For more information, visit www.forrester.com.

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