According to the study, entitled 'Global Digital Living,' Asian households tend to pay less for digital communication and entertainment services. The study interviewed households from 13 countries worldwide.
Furthermore, the study shows that Asian countries rank significantly higher in terms of interest in new PC and interactive television features, but have lower budget estimates per month for such new services compared to other countries from the Western hemisphere.
The Asian market is developing distinct areas of 'leadership' in the adoption of the so-called digital lifestyle adoption -- including Korea which leads in computer gaming, Japan leading video gaming and mobile phone penetration, and Hong Kong which shows leadership in IPTV or Internet Protocol television adoption, said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates.
Among Asian countries, Taiwan and Korea are ranked highest in the digital living index. Asian countries are also more open to using PCs as the entertainment platform.
But what may hinder the adoption of a digital home is the Asians' unwillingness to pay for new entertainment and communication services.
Video on Demand (VOD), for example, is one application that North American households are very much excited about. But such excitement does not readily translate to spending money for their Asian counterparts.
'VOD is seen as one of the sexier applications that can drive the adoption of digital home but the big drop in Asia's willingness to pay makes Asia a very challenging environment for service providers,' said Barrett.
Seamless 'hubs'
Emmanuel Dieppedalle, marketing director at consumer electronics company Philips, describes the digital home as comprised of three 'hubs': a computer hub, a communication hub that includes mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and a consumer hub, which covers televisions, digital video discs (DVD), among others.
'APAC (Asia Pacific) is very well positioned to be a forerunner of the digital lifestyle adoption but the big challenge is the interconnection of these three hubs,' said Dieppedalle.
The idea of the digital home and the digital lifestyle is to have everything connected- content, devices, services, said Colin Png, director for business and marketing at Microsoft Singapore.
'The technology is here but there is still lack of education on how all these things can be seamless,' added Png.
The Asian market, as in all markets, is looking for simplicity and integration of these various devices.
'These people are very quality- and price-conscious,' said Alexis Martial, director and general manager at Awox, a European provider of networked consumer electronic products. 'User experience and the right price point will therefore be key to digital lifestyle adoption.'