Honk Kong tops in tablet computer use

Thirty-four percent of Internet users age 16 to 60 in Hong Kong have a tablet PC, making it the most penetrated market worldwide, a global study found. The survey by Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson found Singapore is second with a penetration rate of 31 percent, and Norway is third at 20 percent, China's official Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday. Ericsson polled more than 47,500 Internet users age 16 to 60 in 58 countries and regions for the survey in the first quarter of this year. The finding of Hong Kong and Singapore in the top two spots is consistent with the status of the two cities, known for their mobile-networking technologies and tech-savvy populations, Vishnu Singh, regional head of Ericsson ConsumerLab, said. The global tablet-ownership rate is expected to keep growing due to the more convenient size and better portability of the tablet over the laptop, he said. In the same Ericsson survey, Singapore topped the world in terms of smartphone ownership, with 74 percent of the Internet users age 16 to 60 using smartphones, while Hong Kong was second at 73 percent.