COMPUTING AND INTERNET DIFFUSION



OVERVIEW
Switzerland is one of the most computerized countries in Europe. In 2000, there were 4.7 million personal  computers  or 65 PC per 100 inhabitants. However, new sales growth is declining. In 1999, new sales growth was 14%. The following year, the rate had dropped to 7%.1  The internet is most often accessed from the workplace than at home. However, equal numbers of internet users have access at at least one of these locations. According to Jupiterresearch, 2.4 million people in Switzerland had home internet access.2 This is  roughly 34% of the total Swiss population. National domains have a significant reach throughout the country as well as global sites such as Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL.3  Given this level of internet and computer diffusion in Switzerland, it is somewhat surprising that e-commerce is more popular. Only 11% of  Swiss internet users purchase products online. Most  Swiss users prefer to browse or seek information online.4  Privacy and security issues have influenced ecommerce in this country. The challenge for business and the government is to create assurances and safeguard to combat this reluctance. A much harder step is to change the users' perception of the internet. This shift is outside of the realm of public policy, but will go a long way in increasing the level of ecommerce activity.

Swiss Computer and Internet Diffusion 2000
Personal computers per 100 inhabitants
 65
Internet access subscribers per 100 inhabitants
 20
Internet use per 100 inhabitants
 30
Internet hosts (.ch) per 1000 inhabitants
 73.4
Web servers per 1000 inhabitants
 15
Secure web servers per 1M inhabitants
 118.5
                                                   Source: Federal Office for Communication



Domain Name

       Overall Reach
Bluewin.ch
 50%
Search.ch
 22%
Sbb.ch
 15.5%
Sunrise.ch
 11.8%
Swissonline.ch
 10.2%
UBS.ch
 9.9%
                                                            Source: Jupiterresearch 2001




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