Internet Access Via Mobile Devices Doubles In 12 Months
More than 22.4 million people used their mobile device on a daily basis to access news and information on the Internet, Comscore calculated using an average during the three-month period that ended January 2009. That's up 107 percent from the 10.8 million average daily users from the same three-month period one year earlier.
The numbers provide further evidence that Internet surfing is rapidly expanding beyond a home-office activity to accessing information on-the-go, whether its checking stock quotes while commuting, researching a prospect before a sales call or finding a restaurant for lunch.
The majority of people, 70 percent, access the Web using traditional mobile phones, although some smartphones and high-end feature phones like the Samsung Instinct and LG Dare are in the top 10 devices for accessing news and information online.
The Comscore study found that, on average, 19.3 million people used mobile devices to access Internet news and information on a weekly basis for the three-month period ending in January 2009. That's up 87 percent from 10.3 million one year earlier. Those who access such information during the month totaled 63.2 million, up 71 percent year-over-year.
The numbers do not include social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Comscore found that the number of mobile users who accessed such sites and blogs on a daily basis surged 427 percent to 9.3 million in January 2009 from 1.8 million one year ago.
Comscore said the number of people using mobile devices to trade stocks or access financial information increased 188 percent year-over-year while the number accessing movie information increased 185 percent.
The study found that 22.3 million people accessed news and information in January 2009 using a downloaded application. Maps, with 8.2 million users, were the most popular downloaded application for accessing information. Comscore also said that young males are the most avid users of mobile news and information, although 40 percent of women aged 18 to 24 also accessed the Internet using a mobile device in January 2009.