Thursday, Sep 2, 2010    Text size: 

The report, prepared by the Boston Consulting Group and entitled, "The Internet's New Billion," outlines the tremendous growth underway across the emerging markets collectively known as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) — and includes another wakening giant, Indonesia.

Not to be underestimated, these five countries contain nearly half of the world's population and account for around 15 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

With 610 million current Internet users in BRICI and projected annual growth rates, these markets should reach 1.2 billion newly online consumers within the next five years — and when they go online, it will likely be using mobile devices or at Internet cafés.

"Personal computers are much less prevalent than mobile devices in the BRICI countries," states the report, adding that PCs "play nowhere near the role in catalyzing digital consumption that mobile devices and Internet cafes do."

Although Internet use is swelling in each of the BRICI countries, China will see the greatest increases — and perhaps become the main player in shaping the future of the Internet experience.

It is also important to note in an era of social networking and an increase in business opportunities, it is not just consumers, but content creators, that are coming online and bringing with them new concepts and innovations.

"As digital consumption moves into the mainstream of BRICI society over the next few years, the online habits of the current generation of digital consumers will form the digital-market ecosystems that will be in place for generations to come," the report states.

While adult operators seeking to profit from these markets face many obstacles, the imminent doubling of their size and ongoing continued growth may make efforts to reach their consumers more than worthwhile over the long run.