In 2007, China alone made up about 600 million subscriptions, still making up nearly half. The subscriptions in India and Pakistan, however, have boosted since 2003 and totalled about 200 million, according to Informa Telecoms & Media.

Other countries, including Japan and Korea, accounted for about 500 million in 2007, according to the WDMT report, published by the World Association of Newspapers.