Women surpassed men as the top Web surfers in Taiwan last year, according to local Internet portal Yam.com (
The company published the results of last year's survey yesterday, revealing that 50.4 percent of those online are women, compared to 49.6 percent for men. In 2001, 55.1 percent of Taiwan's Web users were men, and only 44.8 percent women.
Businesses in Taiwan need to pay attention to the reversal, Yam.com's chief operating officer, Chen Jen-ran (
Yam.com has conducted surveys of the online habits of Taiwan's Internet users for the last seven years. The latest survey polled 16,000 people between Nov. 19 and Dec. 3, 2002.
"As the number of people accessing the Internet grows year by year, and as the applications of the Internet become more diversified, company mangers and Internet operators need to understand the characteristics of the Internet population," Chen said. "This will be key for future business and decision making."
Perhaps of more interest to businesses is the fact that 80 percent of those surveyed clicked on advertising links, and 60 percent said they were willing to accept promotional e-mails. The survey also found that women were more willing to receive electronic ads.
Using search engines to find information remains the top function of the Internet for users, accounting for 28 percent of total online time.
The use of e-mail has risen 3 percent to 17 percent since 2001, and accessing news sources has fallen 3 percent to 13 percent.
There were also major differences in the habits of the sexes. The top reason for women to log on was to use e-mail services, whereas men prefer to browse.
Women were more concerned about security while surfing, whereas men detest a surplus of boring content. Men also spend more time online, clocking an average of 23.5 hours online per week, compared to just 18.5 hours for their female counterparts.
Online spending increased from NT$7,151 per person in 2001 to NT$7,503 per person. Men bought more expensive items, pushing their total for the year to NT$8,965, compared to just NT$6,220 for women. Women downplayed their online shopping habits, saying they preferred to spend less than NT$3,999. Men, on the other hand, said they had planned to spend more than NT$6,000 last year.
When it comes to one of Taiwan's favorite pastimes -- playing video games -- half of the under-19 age group engage in online games, but twice as many boys participate. Boys are also more willing to pay for game services, shelling out on average NT$275 per month.
The government-funded Institute for the Information Industry (資策會) in September last year showed that Taiwan's Internet users had increased 10 percent last year over 2001, topping 8.35 million, or 37 percent of the nation's population.
* In Taiwan, 50.4 percent of those online are women, compared to 49.6 percent for men.
* Online spending increased from NT$7,151 per person in 2001 to NT$7,503 per person.
* Women spent an average of NT$6,220 online last year.
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then
RSS