'In US, we think of desktop as legacy, there, they don’t even think of it' - That quote from Barney Harford, CEO of Orbitz, at Phocuswright probably sums up best how Asia has leapfrogged from offline to mobile and here's how:  

After having completed what I call my conference trilogy �" WIT, followed by Phocuswright and then CAPA in Antwerp, Brussels �" one thing struck me more than anything else as I covered three continents in 12 days.

How far ahead Asia is in terms of mobile. Well, not only that but also in terms of infrastructure in its cities �" broadband speed, wifi access, airports, airlines, hotels �" and you realise how much the world has changed in the last decade or so. 

The mobile-first panel: From left, Douglas Quinby, Phocuswright, moderating Sam Shank, Hrush Bhatt, Barney Harford and Yilu Zhao

At Phocuswright, Yilu Zhao, Chief Strategy Officer, Qunar.com, said, “In China, it’s not just offline to online, it’s offline to mobile. There are 500 million smartphone users and 600 million Internet users. In the lower tier cities, people have mobile.”

Qunar started investing in mobile in 2010, an investment that has obviously paid off. Up to 40% of its revenues comes from mobile, which accounts for 50% of hotel bookings and 40% of flights. Payments are fully enabled on its mobile platform, she said.

 India is pretty much the same story. Hrush Bhatt, founder & director, product & strategy, Cleartrip said, “India has also made the leapfrog from desktop to mobile first.”

Mobile accounts for 45% of train bookings for Cleartrip and 30% for flights and hotels. “We have 55% new monthly average users with 45% returning. We don’t see mobile as a sales platform but as a companion product for users to carry across searches.”

 Mobile-only customers form 22-25% of its customer base, said Bhatt. And Zhao said there was very little overlap between mobile and desktop customers at Qunar.

Mobile goes hand-in-hand with social which is huge in China and Zhao said that in one quarter, it collected two million reviews, 95% of which came from mobile. “Mobile takes you to new frontiers and that’s our priority now in product development.”

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