Despite “Dotgones”, Asia Pacific countries recorded a 138 per cent growth in business to consumer (B2C) sector, almost doubling revenues, in 2000, and are expected to repeat performance, this year too, the Boston Consulting Group has found.

“Multi-channel players, ie, traditional companies with both offline and online channels account for 81 per cent of the region's online B2C revenues, which grew by 138 per cent to $6.8 billion and is expected to hit $14 billion this year,” the report titled “Digital Dragons” reports.

BCG also predicts 36 per cent per annum growth in internet usage in the region. “Nascent online markets such as India, China, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand will account for half of the internet population in this region,” it states, forecasting that the Asia Pacific region will grow to 245 million internet users by 2004, up from the current 98 million.

B2C markets in Asia-Pacific are still growing by more than 100 per cent per year, mainly as a result of the online activities of large established consumer companies. The dotcom focus has diverted attention from the fact that B2C markets in Asia are booming, said one of the report’s three co-authors David Michael.