Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Internet, iPhone, iPod touch
iPhone nabs 59% of smartphone 'net traffic, 43% of mobile web traffic
What does this mean? AdMob suggests it's a phase -- right now, because we're so early in the development stages of this platform, mobile web makes up the main chunk of traffic. But in the future, we may go through applications to get data, or use push notifications, and/or come up with other, more streamlined ways to get information out to mobile devices. But for now, iPhone and iPod touch users are still browsing the web, and as a result, they are accounting for way more traffic than their sales hint at.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jorge said 11:40AM on 5-29-2009
I disagree with AdMob's suggestion that it is a phase. Having owned a number of other smartphones, I can confidently say that surfing the web is such a pain in the 'posterior' that I would not bother doing it most of the time. By comparison, surfing on the iPhone is actually quite pleasant. Also, the vast number of iPhone applications and the incredible degree of market penetration that they experience (thanks to the app store) far out-shadows the applications available for all the other mobile platforms. So if this really was a "phase" that would taper as applications became available, we would have seen it by now!
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Ryan Trevisol said 12:08PM on 5-29-2009
Just goes to show you that the iPhone DOES make it easier to use the web on your mobile device. Those other handsets sell more, but users aren't browsing with them.
The Pre is poised to take a huge share of this, however, because as we learned yesterday, the whole thing is basically a browser, so it's relying a lot more on web traffic.
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Dash21 said 12:25PM on 5-29-2009
Also, those other handsets don't necessarily come with a mandatory data plan that lets you surf the web without worrying about the cost. No one ever seems to point that out with these comparisons. Surely, that has something to do with it, too.
Ryan Trevisol said 12:37PM on 5-29-2009
Android does, and if you look at AT&T's Blackberry plans, most of them (including the BB Personal) include unlimited data.
Those are the two big ones you would expect. Lots of Symbian phones don't come with the mandatory plan, yet they are the only operating system that competes with iPhone. And they are the domain of Opera. Coincidence? No. Better browser experience equals more mobile browsing. Period.
Aaron said 12:25PM on 5-29-2009
I think it's also because the iPhone plans have always required you to have internet access. If people have it they will use it. When my wife and I got our smartphones from T-Mobile internet access was an option which we chose not to get.
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kc! said 12:55PM on 5-29-2009
All this means is that AT&T will start charging us more for owning and using an iPhone on their networks. :(
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Nick said 2:42PM on 5-29-2009
I feel that this points to the fact that many iPhone/iPod touch users feel comfortable going to websites in full and not modified down low content versions.
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ian.batterham said 3:24PM on 5-29-2009
One other thing to take into consideration with these figures is that mobile browsing is more likely from the non-business user. Does this point to iPhone still not being fully accepted by the business community?
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