Asian CEOs are taking to iPad, but shying away from social media

A focused survey of CEOs in Asia has found that executives are readily adopting Apple’s iPad, but they remain wary of social media.

Added Value Saffron Hill (via Campaign Asia-Pacific) polled 32 CEOs at multi-national companies from Singapore, Hong Kong and India. The executives said they are adopting new digital devices, but are fighting to draw lines so they aren’t “controlled” by always being accessible.

Respondents were enthusiastic, however, about the way the iPad fit into their work needs. One executive from Singapore said that he prefers to use the iPad to present because the iPad makes him “look like a salesman.” Still others found that they were increasingly leaving their laptops at their desks and taking their iPads on trips.

CEOs remain hesitant of participating in social media, though, citing privacy concerns. Others feared the increase in time and mindspace from having to deal with social networking.

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“There are all these requests I need to accept and I just don’t want to get started on dialogues,” said one Hong Kong CEO.

Of course, even while eschewing it for themselves personally, the executives do recognize the value that social media can add to their companies. Some are providing space internally to allow younger employees to express themselves, while others are experimenting with the benefits to marketing and promotion that such services can bring.

According to the report, Apple products are a “regular favorite” among CEOs, in part because they “respect the company ethos, the history and what the late Steve Jobs achieved.”

An earlier study by Buddy Media discovered that 40 percent of Asian companies have been making use of social media for over two years. However, 77 percent admitted that they don’t have a plan for mobile social media. Meanwhile, a global study of CEOs conducted by IBM earlier this year found that just 16 percent of them are active on social media.

Social media in Asia is maturing quickly. Earlier this week, Sina celebrated the third anniversary of its Weibo microblog, which has become a powerful player in Chinese society with over 350 million users. Messaging apps like Line, Kik and WeChat are and have added features that put them in direct competition with more fleshed out social networking sites like Facebook. One recent study from comScore found that Indian Internet users spend 25 percent of their online time on social networks.

Image via Photoxpress