UC Mobile, a China based mobile developer, offers its mobile browser to Indonesians (available in Bahasa Indonesia). The company claimed its browser has been used by more than 100 million users across 145 countries (Opera claimed Opera Mini has been downloaded by “only” 62.3 juta users). In China, UC Mobile holds 80% share of mobile browser market.
According to Yu Yongfu, UC Mobile CEO, during his interview with VivaNews in Jakarta, one of the primary reasons for entering the Indonesian market is Indonesia is the 4th most populated country in the world. In addition, there are some similarities between Indonesia and China, both countries have a large number of mobile Internet users.
Andi Zain, a UC Mobile representative in Indonesia, added that for most Indonesian, mobile phone is their primary computer. Mobile is also their first Internet TV. They also access their email from their mobile phone. Since 80% of Indonesians mobile Internet users have low end mobile phone (less than US$170), fast, light browser becomes very important. Moreover, Internet infrastructure in Indonesia is sometimes unstable. Indonesians need a browser that can solve these problems and UC Mobile browser offers a solution.
When asked about mobile Internet prospect in Indonesia, Yu Yongfu said he believes Indonesia has a big potential. Besides being the 4th most populated country in the world, mobile Internet growth in Indonesia is the 4th fastest in the world after China, Japan, and the United States. Â Indonesia’s mobile phone market is also much much bigger than its computer market.
Yu Yongfu also said there are four similarities between mobile Internet users in Indonesia and China as follows:
- They use the same handset. In Indonesia and China, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and mobile phones with MTK chipset are very popular. In the United States, iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm, and Motorola are more popular.
- They are young and energetic.
- They buy their mobile phone in open market. In South Korea, Japan and the United States, users buy their mobile phone through their mobile operators.
- They use the Internet mostly for accessing information and social networking.
With these similarities, Yu Yongfu believes UC Mobile will be able to understand the needs of mobile Internet users in Indonesia better than Opera.
