the 19th CNNIC report is out

I see from Danwei that CNNIC has released its 19th China Internet report with data to the end of 2006.  Chinese copies available here.   It seems that the rate of Internet growth is increasing rather than leveling off this year.  They have some good new stats on mobile Internet–now I wish they’d gather IPTV statistics as well.

Main points of interest in the press release:

• 137 million Internet users, a 23% growth rate in 2006, compared with just above 18% growth rate in both 2005 and 2004
• 10.5% Internet penetration rate
• over 30% of Beijing’s population is online
• the .CN domain name grew at a rate of over 64% compared to 2005 (probably still fewer in total than .COM, would be my guess). China is said to be entering “the .CN era”
• 75% of Internet users are using broadband connections (xDSL, cable modem, or leased line)
• a bit above 12% of Internet users, or 17 million, have accessed the Internet through their mobile phones (compared to 13 million in July 2006)
• mobile Internet users are primarily male, unmarried, aged 18-24, work in an enterprise, and live in cities and towns
• 72% of mobile Internet users are mainly going online to send and receive email, while 31% are browsing news
• biggest issues for mobile Internet users are the high price and slow connection speed