Thursday, November 30, 2006

SECURITY AN INCREASING NEED OF DIGITAL PRODUCT USERS: SURVEY

Taipei, Nov. 29 (CNA) While entertainment is still the top use for digital product home users in Taiwan, more users see home security as one of the most important functions when buying digital products, according to the results of a survey released Wednesday.

Entertainment is the main reason users use digital products when they are home. When they are away from home, home security issues become the primary concern and they expect to constantly monitor home security with new digital technologies, according to the survey commissioned by the Office of Committee for Information Industry Development (OCIID) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The survey, which was conducted by the Topology Research Institute (TRI) and focused on identifying the needs of digital product home users in Taiwan, polled 500 users aged between 25 and 45 and conducted focus group interviews in the span of five months before releasing the final results.

"The results told us that home security and distance home care will be the future trends, " said TRI researcher Lo Wen-ying.

The top three products on users' wish list are Internet-connected televisions, smartphones/PDAs and home entertainment computers, the survey found.
It also found that brand has become the leading factor when users buy home digital products, as 31.1 percent of respondents said it was their No. 1 concern. Functionality was the No. 2 factor in the category at 28.7 percent.

Users in southern Taiwan were more willing to buy home digital products than people in northern and central Taiwan, according to the survey results.

TRI Vice President Huang Li said mobile phones are expected to be the main device for people to monitor home security and control home equipment in the future.