Indonesia: A Mobile-centric Nation

Andy Zain gave a speech at IDBTYE, Jakarta

At last week’s IDBTYE event in Indonesia, Andy Zain gave a speech about Indonesia’s digital habits and the success of mig33, a popular mobile networking site in Southeast Asia with 27 million users in Indonesia alone. He is the managing partner of mig33 and also the director of SkyBee Tbk., a local mobile phone company.

Citing a Nielsen survey on mobile phone users in Indonesia, Zain showed how almost everyone in the country owns a mobile phone – from housewives to professionals. Some even have two or three. But in contrast, not all Indonesian people have a PC or laptop, but rather they are using mobile phones to access the internet.

The penetration of PCs and laptops in Indonesia is only five percent – very small compared to Singapore or Malaysia – perhaps because most Indonesians are still in lower income brackets. These people are generally not smartphone users. 95 percent of Indonesians are using mobile phones priced below $120. They use mobile devices mostly for social networking, although it is growing into social commerce now.

With respect to Twitter, Zain says that Indonesia is not following global trends, but is creating trends, as we have reported here and here.

Mobile as an Entertainment

Mobile phones in Indonesia usually play the role of an entertainment device. As Zain stated:

For most, average people, a mobile phone is the only source of entertainment in which they can listen to music and watch TV. Music has already gone digital in Indonesia, but not with iTunes. 70 percent of people’s access to music is coming from mobile – RBT [ringback tones], CDs/cassettes, concerts, pirated CDs. And the mobile phones they use cost an average of $30-40.

This situation has led some telcos to sell phone packages which come bundled with music that is legal and licensed, with the cooperation of record companies in Indonesia who are keen to market their music. One popular example is the Esia music phone, or free RBT with the purchase of certain types of mobile phones. It’s inexpensive, but it reaches the right market.

Even though the phones’ limited memory space might not be great for songs storage, there are still ways to listen to songs while on the the go. For example, a user can purchase and store 20 songs in the phones for a certain amount of money and then change songs as and when he likes it. It’s just 20 songs but it still helps to serve a basic need.

Credit: mig33fans.com

mig33 came into the right segment – the mobile segment – where people can join chat groups to interact and engage in activities such as playing games on their mobile phones. Zain shared that mig33 has somewhat become like a cult brand where Indonesian users organize their own events to celebrate relationships which have grown on the platform. Zain even showed pictures of fans who design their own mig33 shoes and t-shirts to show their love for the mobile network.