Asia-Pacific will no longer produce huge increases in new social network users, but the sheer scale of the region means it should remain front and center for social media marketers. Facebook will remain on top, but TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat are making waves.

Cash is on the decline everywhere, accounting for at most 44% of point-of-sale (POS) transaction value regionally and just 18% globally in 2021. Its share will drop to 10% worldwide by the end of 2025, with North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe leading the charge away from physical money.

Our inaugural global forecast for podcast listeners shows deepening engagement with the medium across all geographies, although at widely varying rates. This report covers 18 major markets in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

In fact, India has the highest penetration of mobile phone internet users—98% of all internet users—in Asia-Pacific for the countries we forecast. India has the fastest-growing number of smartphone users in Asia-Pacific. The total will increase 5.8% this year to more than 500 million, accounting for more than half of the country’s mobile phone users.

Chinese government looks to scale back regulation: Beijing eases controls on Big Tech companies, leading to a stock rally and optimism that short-term recovery can offset losses from factory closures.

China orders replacement of foreign-branded PCs, software within two years: Government agencies and state-backed businesses will need to switch to domestic alternatives, which could mean losses for Dell, HP, and Microsoft.

Chipmakers faced with huge stockpiles: The war in Ukraine and China shutdowns are taking their toll on the PC and smartphone market. Manufacturers might have to pivot to produce chips for other uses.

India is the next battleground in the streaming wars: Amazon Prime Video, Disney, and Netflix are fighting for dominance in the growing streaming market.

The metaverse is expected to be a major disruptor across industries, but it's still early days for the emerging realm. In this report, we look at how different markets are embarking on their own metaverse business models.

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In 2022, 40.7% of China’s digital ad spending will go toward the ecommerce channel, for ads offered by retailers like Alibaba and JD.com. This eclipses the share in the US, where 14.5% of digital ad spending will flow to ecommerce channel ads sold by the likes of Amazon, Walmart, and eBay.