Mobile phone is the most common way to connect to the internet
in China A new report from China Internet Network Information
Center (CINIC) found that mobile phones are now the most common
way for people to connect to the internet in China. For the
first time, desktop computers are no longer the leading method
for the country’s 538 million connected citizens to get online.
The CINIC report said over 50% of the year’s new internet users
were from rural areas. A fall in smartphone costs has been the
key cause of growth, experts said. “Mobile phones are a cheaper
and more convenient way to access the internet for [residents
in] China’s vast rural areas and for the enormous migrant
population,” said the report from the state-linked CINIC. Mobile
internet users now number 388 million, up almost 10% since the
start of the year. “Mobile phone prices continued to drop,” the
report said. “The emergence of smartphones under 1,000 yuan
[$157] sharply lowered the threshold for using the devices and
encouraged average mob