However, the costs for Brazilian ISPs are also higher than for US ISPs. Internet Users Brazil is the largest Internet market in Latin America by number of users, too. The number of Internet users is increasing rapidly. As shown in the graph below, there were approximately 158,000 Brazilian users in 1995, while today estimates are in the range of 3.6 to 3.8 millions. Moreover, for the year 2003 IDC forecasts that there will be more than 9 million Internet users in Brazil .
Internet penetration is constrained by both relatively low PC and fixed telephony penetration.
As a result, the growth rate of the PC sales in Brazil is higher than in the most developed economies. Thus by 2001 IDC estimates that the installed base will have quadrupled levels seen in 1996, reaching the level of 12 millions. By categories, the Brazilian e-commerce industry tracks closely the US industry. All business models that have achieved some success in the US are being replicated in Brazil. Thus not surprisingly the most popular e-tailer categories are books, music and computer products.