(22 June 2006 4:10 pm)

SINGAPORE: In the second session on global digital living, a Parks Associates survey of 13 nations revealed that Asian countries are leading the way in the digital homes arena.

The session, which was addressed by Parks Associates, USA director of research, John Barrett, analysed the digital trends within Asia and compared them to other countries. He also touched upon key topics like consumer attitudes, market structure and current practices.

He said, "Asian consumers express high demand for new digital service but a low willingness to pay." When queried on what is driving the growth, Barrett said, "There are some notable differences with western countries. One is that there is wide availability of content and deeper broadband penetration have resulted in Asians being more likely to use computers a entertainment platforms."

Secondly, Asian CATV providers are weaker than their North American counterparts because the demand for TV services is not as strong in Asia as it is in North American. Also, piracy is a much greater concern in Asia because copyright provisions are more weakly enforced and commercial piracy more common.

Some key points which emerged were:

* Korea, Taiwan were the top two countries ranked high on the Digital Living index
*53 per cent of Asian internet households are interested in viewing digital photos on their TV compared top just 43 per cent of European Internet HHs and 28 per cent of North American HHS
*Asian Internet Households are willing to spend on an average $ 7 per month for a video-on-demand service compared to $11 per month in Europe and North America.