eMarketer reports that the retail e-commerce environment in the Asia/Pacific region, though huge, is still rapidly expanding market. Japan is the region's largest market, with 2004 sales of $38.4 billion. Second is South Korea with $6.3 billion, followed by China and Taiwan, each with about $1.1 billion in sales. With only 7.2 percent of China's population online (94 million users), and low broadband penetration, the market is poised for growth and already ranks second in the world in total internet users, after the U.S.

Japan is third worldwide with 73 million users, or 57 percent of its population. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the economies poised to take off in e-commerce are Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore.

The governments of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore have been instrumental in setting policies that encourage private sector innovation in information communication and technology, particularly broadband. eMarketer estimates that last year 73 percent of all households in South Korea had a broadband internet connection. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore are all ranked ahead of the U.S. in what is an important driver of e-commerce.