China's Internet population tops 123M
by Alan Rose 
{ Jul 21st 2006 at 7:30PM }
According to the China Internet Network Information Center, the country's online population surpassed 123 million users through the end of June -- 63% of whom use broadband access. There are over 20 million Chinese online gamers and Internet shopping is also up 50% from last year. In a country where game consoles have had a limited impact, these statistical trends could eventually mean good news for Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, as each company is banking on downloadable content and online marketplaces in their next-gen systems. However, there's still the issue of perceived educational value of consoles in the Chinese market. So until Brain Age-style games take off in the living room, parents of Chinese gamers will still be saying, "bu yao!"
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Aaron @ Jul 21st 2006 8:13PM
123 Million?? Whoa. China's movin' on up.
"Hey, China still cool! You pay latah; LATAH!"
dickweed @ Jul 21st 2006 8:19PM
I love China long time!
Shadowstorm @ Jul 21st 2006 9:51PM
Too bad China has a censored internet.
yjs @ Jul 22nd 2006 6:35AM
Too bad 99.5% of Chinese don't care about a censored net and still have lots of fun and learn a lot of new things with really cheap broadband and wide availability of internet cafes.
Ryuukuro @ Jul 22nd 2006 8:16AM
What good is Internet access when you don't have the right (correction: when you are DENIED the right) to see what you want and make up your own mind?
I feel weird saying this but it seems that capitalism might be waking up more than the Chinese wallet. I smell revolution.
Lucifer @ Jul 26th 2006 7:33AM
It's not a surprise for me since the population is huge,however, I dare to say that actually half(or more) of them are JUST playing online games or(and) chatting...
And the so called broadband is much NARROW than what you guys mean.What more, the price is not that cheap due to the salary condition of Chinese people.
The CENSORSHIP... Ahh, this is what drives us mad!!! Although lots of complaints're already brought(mainly on personal blogs).