This report looks at all the important Malaysia trends - mobile, social, ecommerce. Malaysia is clearly ahead of the pack in south-east Asia - it's higher income, better connected, and more affluent compared to its neighbours like Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and others.

1. MOBILE MALAYSIA
AHEAD OF THE PACK
Photo: Fayez

2. Malaysians are internet-savvy, welleducated and fashionable consumers…
population
65.8%
internet
penetration
…with broadband, smartphones and disposable income.
!
Source: Euromonitor (2013)

3. Key internet & mobile statistics
POPULATION
^
29 Million
34%
INTERNET
USERS*,
%
POPULATION
g
%
POP.
AGE
15
–
34
YEARS
INTERNET
USER
GROWTH
(2009-­‐12)
66%
MOBILE
PHONE
PENETRATION
O
140%
18%
3G
SUBSCRIPTION
10 Million
Source: The World Bank (2012), Euromonitor (2013), Household Size Economies: EAP (2011), Wikipedia (2014), Ministry of Communication (2011)

4. Beating Indonesia & USA
Malaysia is extremely mobile friendly, with mobile penetration rates higher
than its famous neighbour, Indonesia, and the US.
!
Source: The World Bank (2012)

5. Mobile phones are primary devices at
home that connect to the internet
Which of these items does your household currently own?
100%
Mobile phone
90%
80%
70%
A computer
60%
50%
40%
30%
!
Source: Euromonitor (2013)
2009
2010
2011
2012

6. 13 million mobile internet users thanks
to affordable data plans and free wifi
Where do you tend to use your smartphone?
96% 83%
use their phone
at home
Source: Google (2013), BuzzCity (2014)
use their phone
at work
72%
use their phone
on the go

7. Feature phones still rule, not for long
Feature phone
65%
Smartphone
35%
Of all mobile phone owners:
53% own just one phone
47% own multiple phones
McCann prediction:
“Smartphones will rise
to 60% by 2015”
!
Source: Google (2013), McCan (2012), Euromonitor (2013)

8. Malaysians replace their mobiles every
21 months, more often than other devices
How often do you replace these devices?
Mobile phones
Mobile Phones
21
US
22
Tablets
UK
22
Cameras
KR
In-car navigation
ZA
Video players
JP
46
Laptops
DE
46
Televisions
BR
Camcorders
IN
0
10
20
30
Months
!
Source: Phone arena (2011), Euromonitor (2013)
40
50
27
38
81
94

9. They spend more to
upgrade their feature phones to
a smartphone
As a result unit price is higher, but mobiles phones
are becoming CHEAPER as competition grows and
new models are released.
!
Source: Euromonitor (2013)

10. Good time for consumers - three
competing mobile operators drive down prices
Android
65%
Digi
28.9%
Celcom
37.8%
Smartphone
OS
Maxis
33.3%
Windows
13%
Blackberry
9%
Smartphone OS only
Source: Euromonitor (2014)
iOS
13%
Handset carrier

11. Malaysia has relatively high levels
of 4G coverage, far above other
developing Asian countries!
Malaysian 4G networks
DiGi (from $4.50/month)
Network with cheapest package
Maxis (75Mbps)
Fastest network with LTE
Celcom (96.07%)
Most reliable 4G coverage
Other countries with good 4G coverage:
Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong
Source: Leaping Post (2013), OpenSignal (2014)

12. 4G LTE is limited to the major cities…
Existing 4G networks in Malaysia are:
+325%
Better than the
average US city
+506%
Better than the
worldwide average
Plus…
Last year, DiGi further improved its 3G networks to
be able to reach 95% of Malaysians, as well as
becoming LTE technology ready!
Source: Euromonitor (2014), OpenSignal (2014)
for now!

13. Malaysia ranks highest for daily internet
usage in South-East Asia
Average number of hours per day spent by internet users on the internet
3.1
2.5
2.1
2.1
2
1.9
1.7
1
Malaysia
Malaysia
Source: We are Social (2014)
Indonesia
Hong Kong World Average Singapore
China
Vietnam
Japan

14. 79%
of smartphone owners
use their phone
for social networking
Source: PwC (2013)

15. 98% of internet users are on social media
98%
Any social network
72%
95%
Facebook
59%
77%
Google+
32%
57%
Twitter
23%
40%
Instagram
Linkedin
16%
32%
9%
Own an account
Source: We are Social (2014)
Used in the past month
18 million
Malaysians

16. 70% of Malaysians refer to brand’s social media
presence before making a purchase decision

17. “Malaysian netizens view social network sites
14 billion times every month”
That’s 731 times per person
Source: We are Social (2014)

18. Malaysians have the highest
average number of friends on
social networks in the world.
G
233 friends on Facebook
which is nearly 80% higher
than the global average.
Source: we are social (2011)

19. HUNGER FOR
ENTERTAINMENT!
9 out of 10 use their phone
for video, music, games
!
Source: Google (2013), photo: John Ragai

20. ”80% of internet users in
Malaysia stream online video
content each month, and 51%
have an active YouTube profile.”
Simon Kemp, we are social
Source: we are social (2012)

21. 74% play games on their phone
Social platform like Facebook and Line
messenger have helped boost the
popularity of casual games.
!
Role playing games have a very strong
presence in the highest grossing games
both on iOS and Android.
!
On iOS the first non-game in the highest
grossing category is Skype only at #77!*
Source: Euromonitor (2013), *AppAnnie (25.02.2014)

22. J
”Malaysians are used to making
payment online in recent years
thanks to the AirAsia wave since
2001 and daily deal sites
invasion since 2011.”
CK Wong, ecommerce.milo
@ckaywong
Source: we are social (2012)

23. 91% of connected Malaysians shop online
.
$
$380 mil
$2,000
ecommerce
turnover in 2013
average yearly spend
on online purchases
Source: Euromonitor (2013), we are social (2012)

24. Buyer’s remorse
71% of Malaysian shoppers regret their online purchase because
products looked different than advertised or were of poor quality.
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Source: Rakuten (2013)

25. Why hasn’t m-payments taken off?
Only 0.3% of transactions are m-payments…
• Existing popular methods
• Lack of infrastructure
• Low awareness
Bank transfers
Credit cards
Other PayPal, cash on
delivery, Celcom AirCash etc
Source: Ecommercemilo (2013), World Pay (2013)
38%
50%
13%

26. Mobile Money
M-Money on a mission to change that - offers both the convenience and
infrastructure Malaysia needs to speed up the adoption of mobile payments.
!
Teaming up with Western Union, Malaysians can pay into their M-Money accounts
using their phone, online or through “cash-in” channels. They can then top-up their
airtime, pay their bills, and purchase items such as cinema tickets.
!
M Money cash-in channels
>1000
retailers
Bank Islam
CIMB
Public Bank
Hong Leong
RHB
Source: Ernest & Young (2013), WorldPay (2013), comScore (2009)
Mobile Money
Transfer Service

27. Mobile Malaysia
!
• Very well connected - 66%
population online
• Shopaholics - majority have
bought things online
• Ahead of neighbours - higher
average income, 4G coverage,
ecommerce penetration
!
!
Malaysia is ahead of Indonesia,
Thailand, Vietnam and other southeast Asian up and comers.

28. Reach consumers in Malaysia
On Device Research uses the mobile internet to gain access
to consumer opinion any time or location.
!
Our reach in Malaysia:
•
•
•
1000 unique respondents a day
Smartphones and feature phones (35% vs 65%)
From $3.50 per interview
Request a quote!
ondeviceresearch.com

29. Have a question about mobile research?
Contact Siim Teller
siim@ondeviceresearch.com
+44 207 278 2267
!
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