Tablets have overtaken smartphones in the amount of traffic
they drive to websites globally, with Internet users viewing 70% more pages per
visit when they browse on a tablet vs. a smartphone, according to Adobe Digital
Index.
Meanwhile, mobile video starts on smartphones and tablets
combined have tripled over the past year and currently account for over 10% of
all digital video starts. Video starts on smartphones tripled during 2012
compared to 2011, and tablet video consumption during that period slightly
outpaced smartphones in video starts.
What does all this mean for marketers? Opportunity. The
report states, "The growing mobile audience provides incremental engagement and
revenue opportunity for advertising. Tablet viewers, in particular, are early
adopters who typically spend more money, book more trips, and consumer more
media content."
Mobile browsing statistics for this State of MobileBenchmark
report were based on an analysis of more than 150 billion visits to 1,500-plus
websites worldwide between January 2012 and February 2013. Mobile viewing
statistics were based on analysis of 19.6 billion video starts on 50 media
websites in 2012. Mobile shopping statistics were based on an analysis of 500-plus
retail websites in December 2012, while mobile reading statistics were based on
an analysis of223.5 million reading sessions to 100 digital magazine apps
between January 2012 and February 2013.
"Mobile devices have changed the way consumers interact with
business," the report says. "Marketers should understand the trends, strengths,
and weaknesses of both tablets and smartphones in order to present the right
experience to the different mobile customers."
The study finds retail websites get the most tablet traffic,
followed by auto and travel and hospitality sites. Consumers prefer smartphones
when visiting both telecom and media and entertainment sites.
The study also finds that from August 2012 to February 2013,
there was a 200% average growth in readers of digital publishing apps. Most
digital magazine consumers read with tablets, the study finds, with 75% of
mobile reading sessions occurring on tablets and 23% on smartphones. Tablet
readers open their reading app twice as often per month as smartphone readers,
and read three times as many pages each time they read.
Mobile accounts for a growing share of social media
engagement, the study finds, and consumers say they like the strides Facebook
is making to improve the user experience on smartphones and tablets.
One-third of all likes on Facebook now occur via a mobile
device, the study finds, and between December 2012 and January 2013, the mobile
share of Facebook "likes" increased by 56%.
The PC is still preferred by most consumers to compare
products and make purchases, according to the study. Smartphones are used for
quicker references like price checks and finding store locations. When using
mobile devices to make actual purchases, consumers prefer tablets three times
and much as cellphones; however, the rates of conversion to sales on tablets is
still much lower than on PCs.
The study found that Samsung and Apple account for the
majority of smartphone website traffic in the U.S. No manufacturers besides
Samsung and Apple gained more than 1% market share in the U.S. in the past
year. In Japan, the smartphone manufacturer of choice is Apple, closely
followed by DoCoMo, with Samsung third.
Apple products are number one worldwide for consumer tablet
browsing.
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