More than 1 billion people will have Internet access by 2005, according to
a newly released report from eTForecasts. The report says 414 million people
had Internet access at the end of 2000 and predicts that figure will almost
triple to 1.17 billion by 2005. This growth will be driven by increasing penetration
in Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
The US share of the global Internet population
will drop from 36 percent today to approximately
24 percent in 2005. Domain registrations by US
companies in France, Japan, Austria, Italy, and
Brazil, soared during the last year according to
Jupiter Research. The top 10 most popular
languages on the Internet next to English are:
Japanese, German, Spanish, Chinese, French,
Korean, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Dutch.
Jupiter's Globalization Report predicts that
the Asia-Pacific region will outpace the US in
less than five years and expect the region to
contain as much as one-third of all Internet
consumers worldwide in 2005. Other global
high-growth regions include Latin America, which
is expected to double in size from 5 percent of
the world's online population in 2000, to 8
percent in 2005. Jupiter attributes the growth in
online populations outside the US to increased PC
penetration and telco infrastructure improvements
and reform in those regions.
According to International Data Crop (IDC), in
2000, 60% of B-to-B companies were building
globalized websites, which are designed to reach
audiences in many countries and cultures. In 1999,
37% of B-to-B sites were globalized. By 2004, the
level of globalization is expected to level off
around 80%.
IDC reports that companies that choose not to
globalize their websites project foreign revenue
earnings of 10% in 2000 and 12% in 2001. Over the
same period, companies that globalize expect
foreign revenue earnings of 25% and 35%,
respectively.
The European Commission is calling for Internet
companies to offer multilingual web sites in a bid
to give the US a run for its money in the
ecommerce arena. As a report from Jupitor research
reveals that Europe will account for over 40
percent of the world's internet users by the end
of this year, increasing the diversity of
languages used on the net. According to the EC,
making content available in a number of languages
throughout Europe, increases the companies market
space and also its revenue.
A study released by Forrester Research Inc. of
Cambridge, Mass., predicts that most Asian, South
American and Western European nations will hit a
point of electronic-commerce "hypergrowth" over
the next four years, turning the Internet into a
more global business engine. Forrester estimates
global e-commerce, including both
business-to-business and business-to-consumer
transactions, will reach $6.9 trillion by 2004, up
from a projected $655.8 billion in 2000. It
believes U.S. e-commerce, projected at $488.7
billion in 2000 (75% of the global market) will
rise to $3.19 trillion in 2004. By that time, U.S.
e-commerce will only constitute 46% of a global
market totaling $6.88 trillion.
The growth in Western Europe already has
started, according to the Forrester report, with
most nations there hitting "hypergrowth" by 2001.
Asian and Pacific nations are expected to start
hypergrowth in 2002, with most hitting that point
in late 2003. Central and South American countries
should start in 2004, with most nations hitting
hypergrowth within a period of months that year,
according to the report.
In dollar terms, the projected growth outside
of the U.S. is dramatic. Asia-Pacific nations are
projected to generate $53.7 billion in e-commerce
in 2000, rising to $1.65 trillion in 2004 - a
thirtyfold growth. Forrester expects Asia-Pacific
to experience better than 100% growth in each of
the next four years, with Japan accounting for
slightly more than half the region's e-commerce.
Australia, South Korea and Taiwan are projected as
the other leaders in the area.
"The resulting e-commerce gains will be tightly
linked to business-to-business trade in
Asia-Pacific, with more than $1.5 trillion of the
region's total online sales linked to B2B
sectors," the report said.
With Germany, France and the U.K. leading the
way, Western Europe is projected to grow from
$87.4 billion this year to $1.53 trillion in 2004,
staying ahead of the Asia-Pacific markets until
2004.
Nowadays, it's common practice for companies to
offer their services to the public in more than
one language. A call to your bank will prompt you
for service in English or Spanish. Swipe your ATM
card and you get the same option. Try to get
service on your phone and again, you are given a
language option.
This is not surprising given that there are
over 60 million people living in the U.S. who
speak another language. Claremont-based Tomas
Rivera Policy Institute began tracking the
domestic Spanish speaking market in 1996. Though
only 2% of U.S. Latinos were online in 1994, 15%
of Latino households were connected in 1998,
according to one study. But, a more recent March
study released by Forrester Research Inc. in
Cambridge, Mass., showed 36% of Latino households
were online at the end of 2000.
"Latino households are probably the
fastest-growing" among Internet users, said
Jeffrey Cole, director of UCLA's Center for
Communication Policy, which recently announced
plans for a long-term study to track Internet use
in 18 countries. The U.S. study will also be
conducted in Spanish.
Ana Maria Fernandez Haar, immediate past
president of the Assn. of Hispanic Advertising
Agencies. "The Internet is the ultimate
border-less Hispanic market, and in that case it's
the biggest market in the hemisphere," she said.
"Current numbers indicate that the growth is
taking place now--geometrically."
As an example, Patricia Cucufate the owner of
Los Chorros restaurants says she receives about 30
online requests a week for shipments of her
restaurant's pupusas--Salvadoran corncakes stuffed
with cheeses, pork and loroco, a Central American
palm blossom. The restaurant's Spanish-language
Web site offers a menu and maps directing
customers to Los Chorros' two locations in
Inglewood and Hawthorne.
"There are currently more non-English
speaking people on the Internet today than English
speakers." - Emarketer
"Visitors to localized web sites linger
twice as long as they do on English only URLs." -
Forrestor Research
"Non-English speakers make up the fastest
growing group of Internet users." - New York Times
"Web users are three times more likely to
buy when addressed in their own language." -
Forrestor Research
"Global ecommerce market forecasted to grow
from $13 billion in 1997 to $1.2 trillion in 2001"
- Coopers and Lybrand
"Non-US ecommerce will shift from 14% of the
total worldwide revenues to 37% by 2002." -
International Data Corporation
"More than technical or infrastructure
problems, cultural problems will be the biggest
issue that merchants will face in the global
marketplace." - Gartner Group
"By 2003, non-English speakers will generate
half of all worldwide e-commerce, 60% of all
internet users will reside outside the U.S." -
International Data Corporation
"As web usage goes global, English is
ceasing to be the dominant language online" - The
Industry Standard
"A company with a web site translated into
German, Spanish, Japanese, French, Italian,
Portuguese and English can reach more than 93
percent of the online population" - The Industry
Standard
