Mobile Web Reference
Market share and penetration rates
Penetration rates
- CIA World Factbook: Contains statistical data for all countries including a section on communications that includes landline, mobile and internet connectivity data. Be weary of the data source however as some telecommunications stats are much more recent than others.
- Mobile penetration data: Giant Google Spreadsheet list of worldwide mobile penetration data (as far back as 1998) from the ITU. Includes dynamic visualisation of penetration rates by level of economic development.
- Mobile industry data by country: Data about mobile use, communications costs, mobile coverage and operators by country.
Mobile browser and device statistics
- AdMob monthly metrics: Provides information on global device usage based on AdMob mobile advertising page impressions. As AdMob has recently been acquired by Google, the reports are on hiatus and may soon disappear.
- Opera State of the Mobile Web: A monthly review of Opera Mini usage including top devices, sites accessed. Also includes regularly released feature reports on regional and device-specific usage.
- Statcounter: Provides data on mobile browser and platform usage based on the Statcounter analytics service. Data is provided in graphs or downloadable format. Additional data can be obtained by subscription.
- Device Anywhere metrics: A new series of reports by Device Anywhere showing what devices their clients are choosing to test on. Can be useful as a reality check of what devices other companies (in other markets) feel they should be testing on.
Industry analysis
- The often controversial Tomi Ahonen's Communities Dominate Brands blog provides a wealth of mobile market data. Too much in fact to list without seeming like a Tomi fanboy! So here are a few of our favourites Understanding smartphone market share, Everything you wanted to know about mobile but were afraid to ask and An 8 segment model to analyze smartphone market, consumers and handsets.
- Morgan Stanley mobile internet report: Large multi-document report form 2009 outlining the state of the mobile web along with challenges and growth opportunities for the coming years.
2010
- Touch screen device stats: Canalys study on the growth of touch screen devices.
- Let's talk inputs. Touch screen and QWERTY: Great article by Tomi Ahonen on the market distribution and user demographics of touch screen devices in 2010.
- US mobile social networking: Use of mobile (browsers and apps) to access social networking sites in the United States.
- US Hispanic audience: Use of mobile devices by the his panic population in the United States.
- Comscore, United States mobile market share for January, February, March, April, May, June, July,
- Smartphone usage and market share in the EU 5: Includes breakdown of individual countries, platforms and types of usage.
- Why Smartphone adoption trends may not be as high as you think: Looks at size of market in various countries before the rise in smartphone penetration (i.e. a 200% rise this year is far less significant if smartphone penetration was only 2% last year).
- OFCOM Communications Market: UK report (large PDF) Includes a section on mobile usage.
- The great BlackBerry invasion: A guide to the usage and market share of BlackBerry in Indonesia. (Slide Share)
- iPhone demographic study: this time from Nielsen (and with very different data than the one in 2008). This study also includes comparison of device usage by platform.
2009
- Use of mobile browsers to access social networking sites: Statistical data from Comscore for 2009 and 2010.
- How desktop web usage affect mobile web usage: A comparison of mobile internet use by heavy PC internet vs light PC internet users in the United States. (Comscore)
- European browsing patterns on the mobile web: Includes breakdown of most popular types of mobile web content accessed by youth and older adults (e.g. financial, entertainment etc.) in the EU5. Very good breakdown of usage by age group. (Comscore)
2008
- EU mobile web usage habits: Mobile web usage habits for France, Germany and the UK.
- Men and mobile content: Data specific to the use of mobile web and various other mobile content by men in the EU 5.
- Chinese mobile usage patterns: Mostly focused on activity performed rather than delivery layer (i.e. browser vs app) but includes good usage breakdown and some OEM market share data.
- 2008 Smartphone statistics: Annual statistics from Gartner.
- iPhone Demographics: Comscore demographic data for American iPhone users by income level in 2008.
2007
- UK usage data: UK Mobile web audience statistics for 2007. Includes a list of leading mobile web sites.
- Mobile web vs PC: A comparison of the mobile web and PC internet audience in the UK by age group.
Archival
- An extensive list of mobile (app, browser, platform) statistics from Simon Judge going all the way back to 2004.
Stephanie is a designer and closet anthropologist with a passion for the many ways people interact with technology. With a diverse background, Stephanie's expertise lies in marrying design, technology and business goals to craft simple, elegant experiences. A compulsive researcher, Stephanie is always keen to discover and share insights on the mobile web and mobility trends in emerging economies.