However, its quarterly growth has been sliding steadily in 2011, from 17% in Quarter 1 to 8% in Quarter 4. In Quarter 4 2010, it was growing at 21%.

2010 was the year when Facebook went on hyper-drive growth on users acquisition front in Asia. However, 2011 was the year when Facebook downshifted a gear or two. The decline is expected to continue as many Asian nations are reaching saturation level.

Total Facebook users in Asia increased from 168 million on October 1 2011 to 181 million on December 31 2011, a quarterly growth rate of 8%.

Indonesia continues to be the top Asian country on Facebook with 42 million users. But India will dethrone Indonesia soon. [UPDATE: India has surpassed Indonesia to become Facebook's biggest country in Asia.]

Facebook users in India has been growing by the double digits throughout 2011. On January 1 2011, India has 17 million Facebook users. By the end of the year, the country has 41 million users!

Other than India, eight other countries registered double digits growth throughout 2011, namely Thailand, Japan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and Laos (see Table 3). However, only three countries are growing at rates higher in Quarter 4 compared to Quarter 3, namely Japan, South Korea and Mongolia. And South Korea registered the highest single quarter growth of 82% in Quarter 1 2011.

How accurate are these estimations? Read here.

Facebook in Asia: A Growth Story (2011) originally appeared on GreyReview.com on January 1, 2012.

Facebook now has over 800 million users worldwide, with 168 million are from Asia. In Quarter 3 this year, Facebook added 16.8 million new users in Asia (compared to 19.5 million in Quarter 2 2011). So far this year, the social network has added some 56 million new users; it started the year with 111 million Asian users. Its latest quarter-on-quarter growth rate is 11%. However, the rate has been somewhat slowing since end of 2010 – from 24% in Quarter 4 2010 to 17% Q1’11 to 15% Q2’11 to 11% Q3’11.

1. 57% of Facebook users in Asia can be found in the Southeast Asia region.
2. Internet users in India continue to embrace Facebook. As of end of Quarter 3 this year, India has a total of 36.4 million Facebook users, which is 4 million less than Indonesia. India will very soon surpass Indonesia to become the top Facebook country in Asia (and third-largest in the world).
3. Thailand surpassed Malaysia to become the 4th largest Facebook nation in Asia.
4. Users growth in Malaysia continues to stuck at single-digit. And Taiwan is challenging Malaysia for No. 5 in the list.
5. Facebook users in Japan continue to show impressive growth rate at 26%. In Quarter 2, users population grew by 33%. On January 01 this year, there were 1.8 million Facebook users in Japan. By the end of Quarter 3, total users jumped to 4.8 million.
6. Vietnamese Facebook users grew by 51% in Quarter 3 2011 and will soon replace Singapore in 11th rank.

How accurate are these estimations? Read here.

Facebook in Asia: Latest Stats on Total Users by Country [Quarter 3 2011] originally appeared on GreyReview.com on October 1, 2011.

Roughly 90% of Google+ users are from outside the US. In the Asia region, the percentage of global Google+ population is around 6%.

1. Google+ has now more than 500,000 users in Asia.
2. Google’s other social network Orkut used to attract the Indian population in large numbers. Now, the Internet users in India are crazy about Google+. They constitutes more than half of the Google+ users in Asia. Globally, India comes in second after the US, in terms of total users. It is worth to note that India is also fast embracing Facebook. In this latest report, India registered 28% growth rate in Quarter 2 2011 and currently behind Indonesia, in term of total Facebook users.
3. About 78% of Asian Google+ users come from the top 5 countries – India, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan.

How these figures are derived? FindPeopleOnPlus Directory provides total users breakdown, by country. Currently, the Directory indexes over 4 million users. Based on the figures available on the website, the percentage of each country is calculated. The ‘official’ figure we got on Google+ total users is 10 million, although comScore already estimated 20 million users. To be conservative, I have used “10 million users” to calculate the number of users of each Asian country, based on the country percentage. It is assumed that the country percentage remains constant with the increase of total users.

Google+ in Asia: More than 500,000 Users and India Goes Google+ Crazy originally appeared on GreyReview.com on July 27, 2011.

Some observations:

• A total of 19 Asian countries in the 2010-2011 NRI list, out of 138 countries worldwide.
• 5 Asian countries are in the top 20 of this year’s NRI list – Singapore (2nd), Taiwan (5), South Korea (10), Hong Kong (12), and Japan (19).
• Singapore is the most networked nation in Asia. The Southeast Asian city-state ranked second in the world, behind Sweden.
• Singapore is also the only Asian country ranked higher than the United States (no. 5 worldwide).
• Malaysia ranked first among Upper-middle Income group of countries. Malaysia is also the only upper-middle income country in the top 30 overall. The country’s score increased from 4.65 in 2010 to 4.74 in 2011.
• According to the report, Malaysia “places 10th for ICT readiness of the society as a whole. Among the main stakeholders, the government is showing the way. ICT plays a critical role in its Wawasan 2020 (Vision 2020) plan for Malaysia to become high-income economy by 2020″ (p. 24; WEF, 2011).
• Indonesia leaped 14 places to 53 this year, with improvements across the three NRI components.

According to the WEF report, the underlying principles of the Networked Readiness Index are:

• An ICT-conducive environment is a key precondition of network readiness.
• Networked readiness requires a society-wide effort.
• ICT readiness leads to ICT usage and increased impact.

The Index comprises to three subindexes, namely:

1. Environment subindex:
   • Market environment
   • Political & regulatory environment
   • Infrastructure environment
2. Readiness subindex:
   • Individual readiness
   • Business readiness
   • Government readiness
3. Usage subindex:
   • Individual usage
   • Business usage
   • Government usage

The final NRI score is a simple average of the three composing subindex scores, while each subindex’s score is a simple average of those of the composing pillars. In doing this, we assume that all Index components give a similar contribution to national networked readiness. (p. 6, WEF, 2011)

The Global Information Technology Report 2010 – 2011: Transformation 2.0 (Full report)

2011 Networked Readiness Index by World Economic Forum: How Networked is Asia? originally appeared on GreyReview.com on April 13, 2011.

This is the latest edition of Facebook in Asia series. The followings are some interesting observations of Facebook growth in Asia in the first three months of 2011:

• The latest estimated number of Facebook users in Asia: 131.3 million.
• Total Facebook users grew by 17.3% in the Quarter 1 2011, which is slightly less than the 21.4% in the previous quarter (Quarter 4 2010).
• Indonesia continues to lead with 35.2 million users. Second-placed India with 23 million, followed by Philippines (22.4 million), Malaysia (10.1 million) and Taiwan (9.1 million)
• India grew by 35.7% in the first three months of 2011 and overtook the Philippines as the Asian nation with the second largest Facebook users. India is poised to overtake leader Indonesia by end of 2011, IF the nation continues with double-digit growth rates in the next three quarters.
• South Korea leapfrogged Singapore, Pakistan and Hong Kong to 7th place. The country’s Facebook users grew by a whopping 82% in Quarter 1 of 2011. Facebook users in South Korea are growing at blistering pace since Quarter 2 2010 (grew by 66% in Quarter 2 2010).
• Malaysia exceeds the 10 million users mark.
• The Japanese people are fast embracing Facebook. On October 1 2010, Japan has 1.4 million Facebook users. Six months later, the Land of the Rising Sun has over 2.8 million users. Of course, this is still pale in comparison to the 21 million users of Mixi, Japan’s home-grown social network.
• Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, and Macau are showing decline in estimated total Facebook users between January 01 2011 and April 01 2011. As with other countries, estimated Facebook users figures were extracted at the specified dates. So, I’m unsure why these countries are showing the declines.

Facebook in Asia, Estimated Total Users by Country – Quarter 1 2011

Latest Estimates for Facebook Users by Country – Asia (Quarter 1 2011) originally appeared on GreyReview.com on April 5, 2011.

With the partnership, Zynga leverages MOL’s vast network of physical and online channels to make available the Zynga Game Cards to social gamers across Asia:

• Popular retail chains such as 7-Eleven stores in Singapore and Malaysia, and Singapore’s Comic Connections;
• MOL affiliated cybercafés such as India’s Sify Cybercafes, Philippine’s Netopia Internet Cafes and Thailand’s Fun Loader Cybercafes;
• Electronic payment kiosks, online channels, banking and telco partners such as Malaysia’s Maybank2u, Singapore’s GXCredits and Indonesia’s Gudang Voucher.

MOL will make Zynga Game Cards available in values of US$2, US$5 and US$10. MOL customers can also convert their MOLPoints virtual currency into Zynga Game Cards.

This announcement follows the recent launch of Zynga’s newest game phenomenon, CityVille in Indonesian language marking its first game to be offered in the language and further signifying its dedication to the Asian region.

Prior to this announcement, Zynga Game Cards are already available in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. Zynga also recently announced the launch of its prepaid cards in Latin America.

Zynga Game Cards Now Available in Six Asian Countries originally appeared on GreyReview.com on March 1, 2011.

• Top 10 countries make up 366.2 million Facebook users, or 57% of total Facebook population.
• Top 20 countries constitutes 75% (or 481.1 million) of total Facebook users worldwide.
• There are a total of 71 countries with over 1 million Facebook users. Together, users from these 71 countries represent 96% of total Facebook population (see List below).

List of Countries with over 1 million Facebook users

Which Countries have over 1 Million Facebook users? originally appeared on GreyReview.com on February 27, 2011.

Fortunately, the state of Malaysian animation has come a long way since those shorts. 3D style animation is the way forward and a Malaysian animated show currently riding high is the much beloved Upin & Ipin, which features the adventures of 5 year old twin brothers in a fictional Malaysian kampung (village). Originally a side project for the blockbuster animated film Geng: The Adventure Begins (Malaysia’s first CGI-animated feature film which is one of the highest-grossing Malay-language films in history), Upin & Ipin was introduced on TV9 in 2007 as a six-episode Ramadhan month special, to instill significance of the Islamic holy month amongst children. To date, the series has reached its fourth season, including another Ramadan special season in 2008. Its third season which was more secularized and went under the new full title Upin & Ipin dan Kawan-Kawan and which premiered in early 2009, was picked up by Disney Channel Asia for the international market (airing in November 2009) with dubs in English (the official dub, as the credits and episode titles are in English as well), Mandarin and other languages.

The brainchild behind Upin & Ipin is Les’ Copaque Productions (not French, mind you, but rather a French-ised version of “last kopek” or “final chance”). Established in 2005 as a platform for young creative Malaysians to showcase their talents, Les’ Copaque is a MSC Malaysia-certified animation and film production company based in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Spearheaded by husband and wife team, Hj. Burhanuddin Radzi and Hjh. Ainon Ariff, the company’s main goal is to be a media production company that specializes in creating their own intellectual property that showcases local talents and Malaysian culture. It was this determination which helped Upin & Ipin clinch Best Animation at the Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival in 2007.

Aside from Malaysia, the Upin & Ipin franchise is also very popular in Indonesia which share linguistic and cultural similarities as the former. When it was picked up by Disney Channel Asia, not only is it available to view in the South East Asian countries, but also in Hong Kong and South Korea. It can also be viewed online, via Tonton, and YouTube (via lescopaque account).

Upin & Ipin: The zenith of Malaysian animation (so far) originally appeared on GreyReview.com on February 7, 2011.

In November 2010, Indonesia overtook the UK to become the world’s second largest market for Facebook (behind the United States.) In Quarter 4 2010, over 5 million new users from world’s fourth most populous nation joined Facebook. Indonesia also widened its gap with second-place Philippines over the last 3 months. In November 01 2010, the gap between Indonesia and second-place Philippines was 11,901,900 users. Now, the gap is 13,227,560.

Today, there are over 32 million Indonesians using Facebook. Philippines is behind Indonesia, with over 18 million, followed by India (16.9 million), Malaysia (9.5 million) and Taiwan (8.7 million).

Facebook Population in Asia
Total Users (as of January 01 2011 and October 01 2010) and Total New Users

In Quarter 4 2010, Facebook users in South Korea grew by 60%. South Korea is poised to overtake Singapore to rank 9th in the Facebook in Asia list. Second fastest growing Asian nation on Facebook is Cambodia at 51%, followed by Afghanistan (45%), Mongolia (44%) and Vietnam (42%). All countries experienced double-digit growth in Q4 2010, except Singapore (7.2%) and Macau (4.2%).

Top 10 Facebook Users Growth Rate in Asia
Between October 01 2010 and January 01 2011

Over 111 million Facebook users in Asia on New Year’s Day; Slowing growth, Indonesia widens lead and South Korea on hyper-growth originally appeared on GreyReview.com on January 1, 2011.

Indonesia continues to top the Facebook Population in Asia list with 29.8 million users. Although the country is fast approaching the 30 million user mark, the most populous Southeast Asian nation continues to show impressive 12.2% growth rate (the 10th highest among the Asian nations). During the month of October 2010, Indonesia registered the highest increase of % of Total Facebook Population in Asia, an increase of 0.3 percentage point, from 28.9% to 29.2% (India increased by 0.2 percentage point and Japan with 0.1).

Cambodia registered the highest growth rate at 24.6%, followed by Afghanistan (23.3%), Mongolia (19.7%), Japan (19.6%) and South Korea (18.9%). And Bangladesh joined the 1-million users group in October 2010. As of now, there are a total of 13 countries in Asia with over a million Facebook users.

Facebook Population in Asia
Total Users (as of October 01 2010 and November 01 2010) and % Month-on-Month Growth

(Image credits: Facebook Login Hut and Asia Maps)

Facebook exceeds 100 million users in Asia; added 10 million users in October 2010 originally appeared on GreyReview.com on November 3, 2010.

This year, a total of 180 nominations from 16 member economies for 16 categories. “From a small member base of 5 countries in the first International APICTA Awards, we have now grown to include 17 nations across the Asia-Pacific region, most recently adding Taiwan to our ranks,” said Sutee Satanasathapon, Chairman of APICTA. The 16 member economies of APICTA are Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Since it started in 2001, the awards programme has recognized and rewarded the innovation of numerous ICT companies across the Asia-Pacific region. Past APICTA winners have contributed to the regional ICT Industry with two such examples being:

• CyberPlanet Interactive Co. Ltd., 2004 Winner for Media and Entertainment, has become a public-listed company and expanded into China and Japan to become the largest console game developer in South East Asia
• Les’ Copaque, 2007 Winner for Best Start-up Company, is now rated as one of Malaysia’s foremost production and animation houses with its flagship animation series, Upin & Ipin with broadcast in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong and South Korea.

Malaysia won 4 Awards

There are a total of 29 Malaysian finalists for this year’s Awards, consisting of 24 companies, 3 universities and 2 schools. Winners are judged based on these criteria:

• Uniqueness
• Market potential / value for public
• Functionalities and features
• Quality and application of technology
• Presentation

In this year’s International APICTA Awards, a total of 4 Malaysian entries winning the following categories – Research and Development, Tourism and Hospitality, E-Learning, and E-Government. Singapore-based Ephone International Pte Ltd clinched two awards – Best E-Health and Best Start-up Company – for its product, EPI Life. Other notable winners are IP Payments Account Receivable Solution from Australia, which won the Financial Industry Applications category and Thai company, Geomove Co. Ltd. for their Sensor Service Grid application, which won the Tools & Infrastructure category.

Here’s the full list of winners:
Best of Research and Development: nuRF Wireless Sensor Network and Smart Wireless System – Free Alliance (Malaysia)

Best of Tourism and Hospitality: GDX Guest Services Management – FCS Computer Systems (Malaysia)

Best of E-Learning: Jayonik Convoy Dynamic Driving Simulator System – Jayonik MSC Sdn Bhd (Malaysia)

Best of e-Government: eKasih National Databank on Poverty – Implementation Coordination Unit, Prime Minister’s Department (Malaysia)

Best of Start-Up Companies / Best of e-Health: EPI Life – Ephone International Pte Ltd (Singapore)

Best of Financial Industry Application: IP Payments Account Receivables Solution – IP Payments Pty Ltd (Australia)

Best of Tools and Infrastructure: Sensor Service GRID – Geomove Co. Ltd (Thailand)

Best of New Media and Entertainment: Scoreless Music Suite – Scoreless Music Pte Ltd (Singapore)

Best of Communications: Smoov.me – Smoov Pte Ltd (Singapore)

Best of Security Application: iMatch Mobile – PCS Security Pte Ltd (Singapore)

Best of E-Inclusion and E-Community: Brain Fitness Gymnasium for the Ederly – The Hong Kong Society for the Aged (Hong Kong)

Best of E-Logistics and Supply Chain Management: NEOtrace – NEO Invention Co. Ltd. (Thailand)

Best of Industrial Application: Java Human Machine Interface Engine – Thales Australia (Australia)

Best of Secondary Student Project: My mom’s mobile phone as my sister’s tutor – Salman Al Fansi Full Day School (Indonesia)

Best of Tertiary Student Projects: Stereoscopic video generation from Monoscopic Video – City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

APICTA Lifetime ICT Award

The evening also saw former Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad received a Lifetime ICT Achievement Award, for his contribution to the ICT industry. The MSC Malaysia is the brainchild of the Tun Mahathir.

Winners at the 10th International Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) 2010 originally appeared on GreyReview.com on October 17, 2010.