Pearl Research's new April 2008 report updates digital entertainment, technology, Internet and consumer trends in China. Companies covered include Tencent, Baidu, Shanda, Sina, Sohu, China Mobile, among others. A sample can be found here. http://www.pearlresearch.com/newsl/update0408.pdf

San Francisco, CA, - Consulting firm Pearl Research today released a study detailing Chinese consumer purchase intent for Apple’s iPhone. The iPhone has not been officially released in China, but can be found on store shelves through gray imports. China could be a significant market for Apple with its 565 million mobile phone users and trend-conscious consumers.

China’s online games market raked in an impressive $1.66 billion in 2007, up 60%. These findings are contained in Pearl Research’s new report, “Games Market in China” which can be sampled here: http://www.pearlresearch.com/newsl/PearlChina08.pdf

The biggest gainers were game operators Shanda (up 49% to $338 million), Giant (up 274% to $209 million), The9 (up 30% to $175 million) and Perfect World (up 593% to $95 million). Coinciding with this revenue growth was a wave of initial public offerings (IPOs) by game operators Giant, Perfect World, NetDragon and KingSoft.

Based on interviews with the Chinese youth demographic, Google continues to struggle with lower user awareness, compared to Chinese search engine Baidu. These findings are contained in consulting firm Pearl Research’s new report “Baidu vs. Google: A Study of Search Engine Preferences among Chinese Youth.” A sample of the report can be found here: http://www.redlinechina.com/main/images2/SAMPLE_PearlResearch_Baidu_versus_Google_analysis_0801.pdf

Consulting firm Pearl Research today released “The Phoenix Generation: Insights into China’s Youth,” a comprehensive lifestyle study focused on Chinese youths ages 16 to 30. The study identifies emerging trends, attitudinal shifts and what’s hot in games, Internet, entertainment, technology, fashion, and consumer products. Most importantly, the study provides actionable insights for companies to effectively target this demographic.