Mobile Devices To Account For 75 Percent Of Internet Use In 2017

Mobile devices will account for 75 percent of global internet use next year, according to Zenith’s new Mobile Advertising Forecasts, published last week.

In a press release highlighting the results, Zenith said the mobile proportion of internet use has increased rapidly, from 40 percent in 2012 to 68 percent in 2016, and said it is forecasting for it to reach 79 percent by 2018. According to Zenith, the countries with the highest levels of mobile internet consumption are dispersed across Western Europe, Asia and North America. Mobile internet accounts for the highest proportion of total internet use in Spain, where the firm estimates it will account for 85 percent of internet use in 2016. Hong Kong comes second, with 79 percent of internet use being mobile, followed by China (76 percent) and the United States (74 percent). Italy and India come joint fifth, at 73 percent each.

By 2018, Zenith expects Hong Kong to have the highest mobile internet use, accounting for 89 percent of total internet use. China will be second with 87 percent and Spain third with 86 percent, followed by the United States and Italy at 83 percent each and India at 82 percent.

Zenith said the increase in mobile internet use is being driven by the rapid rise in the penetration of mobile devices. In 2012, just 23 percent of people in its 60 markets had a smartphone, and 4 percent had a tablet. Smartphone penetration has now reached 56 percent, an increase of 2.4 times over four years, and Zenith forecasts it to rise to 63 percent by 2018. Tablets are more of a luxury item and have not spread nearly so widely. They are owned by 15 percent of people in Zenith’s 60 markets now, and it expects them to reach 17 percent penetration in 2018. What’s more, it found the highest levels of smartphone penetration are concentrated in Western Europe and Asia.