Smartphones, tablets driving growth in Asia

Smartphones and tablet computers are expected to boost online retail sales in the Asia-Pacific region to more than $400 billion a year by 2018, a report said Friday.
As a result, retailers are increasingly adapting their websites to capitalise on the trend and allow customers to browse and purchase goods with mobile devices, global consumer research firm Euromonitor said.
Euromonitor data showed that the number of smartphones in the Asia Pacific is forecast to rise to nearly 700 million in 2017, up from almost 390 million in 2013.
The number of tablets and other portable computers is also expected to increase to over 56 million in 2017 from almost 30 million in 2013.
At constant 2013 prices and fixed foreign exchange rates, the value of goods sold through the Internet in the region should reach more than $428 billion in 2018, more than double the $186 billion in 2013, Euromonitor added, according to AFP.