For the first time in history, internet users worldwide have accessed the internet more times on mobile devices than desktop. We’ve previously seen mobile overlapped desktop for Google searches, but when it comes to internet usage in general - this is the ground shifting under our feet.
StatCounter, the web analytics firm, recorded the moment desktop internet usage fell to 48.7% while mobile and tablet activity rose to 51.3% worldwide over October 2016. It’s been a long time coming, as you can see below.
Source: StatCounter
Emerging markets such as India access the internet mostly from mobile with a dominating 75% and only 25% on desktop. In the UK, people are still accessing the internet on desktops (55.6%) rather than mobile and tablet (44.4%) however, the gap is narrowing. The data excludes some of the largest mobile apps such as Facebook and WhatsApp as they account for a majority of mobile internet usage.
This news goes to show how quickly the convenience of mobile technology has made people switch from the conventional desktop to devices that can fit in your pocket. It is visible in the graph above devices such as Smartphones, combined with high-speed mobile networks, have grown in popularity and could be some user’s main computer. Along with the development, websites are now expected to function across a broad range of different mobile devices.
Google recently rolled out an algorithm update which hits a website with a penalty if it is not mobile friendly. This could have a negative impact on businesses if their website is not optimised for mobile, take a look at this article about Mobilegeddon by our digital specialists, ECOM. However, Google have provided this useful tool to see if your website is mobile friendly so you won't be left high and dry.
Aodhan Cullen, CEO at StatCounter commented on the result, warning businesses to optimise their website for mobile or they may find themselves being vanished from the search engine results pages. “This should be a wake-up call especially for small businesses, sole traders and professionals to make sure that their websites are mobile friendly. Many older websites are not.”
Moving forward, mobile is a trend that shows no sign of slowing down, therefore obtaining developers skilled in this area is more important now than ever.
