Asian executives love flat screen TVs, 3G phones flop
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-24 14:59

Flat screen televisions and digital cameras are the hottest gadgets coveted by Asian business executives, but 3G phones and MP3 players are near the bottom of their electronic shopping lists, according to a survey.

A promotional-model for South Korean LG Electronics stands beside two flat-screen televisions during a promotional display in an earlier photo. [AFP]

The executive lifestyle survey published Thursday by the Far Eastern Economic Review weekly also found Asia's most fervent geeks and gadget freaks are not found in wired Hong Kong or South Korea, but the broadband backwaters of the Philippines and Indonesia.

"The revolution has begun. We are making a technology leap as our homes become 'smart' and our gadgets get married to each other," said survey author Nury Vittachi.

"Most of us only half notice what is happening ... but in fact these developments are triggering material changes in people's daily lives."

The survey of 1,901 executives throughout Asia found the flat screen TV was the hottest electronic device on the market -- wanted by almost one in three respondents.

Next down the list came digital cameras (26 percent), laptops and PDAs (both 25 percent) and the camera phone (24 percent). By contrast less than 16 per cent wanted MP3 players, 3G phones or Wi-Fi.

Big brands also fared well, with camera buyers looking to buy established names.

"Buyers overwhelmingly identified three things that made them splash out on a new gadget: A good list of functions, a reasonable price and a trustworthy brand name," said Vittachi.

Consumers were unlikely to buy because of celebrity endorsement or stylish design, he said.

The survey -- of executives from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan -- found large regional differences in which technological advances executives would find useful.

Filipinos and Indonesians were the keenest in the region for new services such as single passwords and unified address books that would synchronise all devices, as well as personalised ringtones for different callers.

They were also the most enthusiastic for their TVs to become communication centres serving as a computer screen, video-phone and SMS device, and said they would make use of remote operations such as being able to telephone a TV to order it to record a programme or activate a microwave to cook dinner.

Japanese and Australians were less impressed with all these ideas, Vittachi noted.

"If you're getting a job as a salesman for a telecoms firm, ask for a beat in Jakarta or Manila, and give someone else Tokyo and Sydney," Vittachi said.

More than half of respondents accessed the Internet from home by broadband, with Filipinos, Singaporeans and Hong Kongers spending the most time online at home.

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