75% of internet use will be mobile in 2017 according to forecast

Zenith Media has released a forecast which says that mobile devices will account for 75% of global internet traffic in 2017. This is a jump from 40% in 2012 and 68% in 2016. The figures are established by looking at “mobile advertising and mobile technology in 60 key countries around the world. It forecasts the rising amount of time consumers devote to mobile internet use, the spread of smartphones and tablets, and the growth of mobile adspend.”

The report predicts the countries that it expects to have the highest levels of mobile internet consumption in 2016, they are (percentage represents the amount of mobile internet consumption):

Spain (85%)
Hong Kong (79%)
China (76%)
United States (74%)
Italy/India (73%)

By 2018, these countries will change positions, with Zenith predicting the following scenario:

Hong Kong (89%)
China (87%)
Spain (86%)
United States/Italy (83%)
India (82%)

Zenith says the rise is being driven by the rapid rise of mobile devices, it said:

“In 2012 just 23% of people in our 60 markets had a smartphone, and 4% had a tablet. Smartphone penetration has now reached 56%, an increase of 2.4 times over four years, and we forecast it to rise to 63% by 2018. Tablets are more of a luxury item and have not spread nearly so widely: they are owned by 15% of people in our 60 markets now, and we expect them to reach 17% penetration in 2018.”

The report also found that the highest smartphone levels were in Western Europe and Asia, with Ireland leading at 92% penetration, Singapore with 91%, Spain at 88%, Norway at 86%, and South Korea with 84%. Ireland is expected to keep its lead in 2018.

The last interesting tidbit from the report is that mobile advertising will overtake desktop advertising in 2017, increasing its share of global internet advertising to 52%, up from 44% this year. In 2018, it’ll represent 60% of all internet advertising, with a total expenditure of US$134bn, which “is more than will be spent on newspaper, magazine, cinema and outdoor advertising put together."

Source: Zenith Media