MUMBAI: New York-based market research firm eMarketer has in its latest report called the e-commerce market in Asia-Pacific "a huge and still rapidly expanding one".

Japan leads the market with sales last year of $38.4 billion, followed by South Korea at $6.3 billion. China and Taiwan are placed in the third position with each recording about $1.1 billion in sales. Meanwhile, India is targeting a market size of Rs 8 billion by 2006.

China, though currently ranked second in total internet users, couldn't win the top slot mainly due to two key factors: Only 7.2 per cent of China's population is online and the country's broadband penetration is low. Still, the analysts call it as the "most promising e-commerce market in the region."

eMarketer estimates that last year 73 per cent of all households in South Korea had a broadband Internet connection. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore are all placed ahead of the US in this important driver of online shopping.

The encouraging government policies have helped Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore to go ahead in the area of information communication and technology. Online gaming has also played a key role in triggering broadband boom in these countries.