TechNewsWorld - The Asian cellular phone market is something of a paradox. Countries such as Japan and South Korea have invested the equivalent of billions of dollars to develop sophisticated, high-bandwidth wireless services, such as mobile video and mobile commerce technologies. One reason for doing this was so they could lead the world in deployment of such services; however, other countries have been slow to follow that lead.
In terms of sophisticated cellular data services, Japan and South Korea are well ahead of their European and North American counterparts. "When the Internet first evolved in the late 1990s, it was largely English-based," noted Neil Strother, an analyst with Forrester Research. "In Japan and Korea, mobile alternatives emerged, and these countries have remained ahead of the pack since then."
In those countries, consumers rely heavily on their handsets. "In Japan and Korea, the cell phone functions like a laptop," Bill Hughes, principal analyst at In-Stat, told TechNewsWorld. Users surf the Internet, purchase goods and watch TV on their handsets.
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