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The Mobile Future
by Jack Loechner, Wednesday, March 6, 2013 6:15 AM
According to the comScore 2013 Mobile Future in Focus report, Smartphones and tablets are ushering in a new era of multi-platform media, with consumers becoming increasingly agnostic about
how, when and where they engage with content. 2012 was another milestone year in the life of mobile as continued innovation in hardware, software and device functionality lays the groundwork for the
future of the industry. The annual report examines the U.S. mobile and connected device landscape in 2012, highlighting trends that have shaped mobile media consumption and shifted market
dynamics across mobile networks, platforms, and OEMs. Top 25 Digital Properties
RankPropertyTotal Digital Population (000) PC (000) Mobile (000)
% Incremental Audience Via Mobile 1 Google
Sites 223,445 193,757 113,650 15% 2 Yahoo! Sites 206,830
185,847 92,218 11%
3 Facebook.com 185,335 150,294 97,739 23% 4 Microsoft Sites 178,737 170,947 55,190 5% 5 Amazon Sites 159,630
128,227 80,476 24% 6 AOL, Inc. 140,252 117,628 62,360
19% 7 Glam Media 128,317
110,555 50,428 16%
8 Ask Network 121,833 104,148 47,972 17% 9 Apple Inc. 108,580 83,722 51,548 30%
10 Turner Digital 104,897 85,666
44,675 22% 11 CBS
Interactive 104,415 87,121 42,135 20% 12 Wikimedia Foundation Sites 103,644 85,883 41,700 21%
13 eBay 95,498 77,725
39,489 23% 14 Demand Media
89,208 74,924 33,406 19% 15 Comcast NBCUniversal 88,586 71,091 37,300 25% 16
Viacom Digital 80,614 71,695 22,312 12% 17 Federated Media Publishing 78,680 64,639 30,105 22% 18 The Weather Channel 69,749 48,928 34,877 43% 19
Wal-Mart 66,208 52,203 26,734 27% 20 Pandora.com
65,838 25,863 52,595 155%
21 Answers.com Sites 64,931 49,171 28,006 32% 22 Gannett Sites 63,573 48,228 27,523
32% 23 ESPN 61,505
38,660 34,616 59%
24 VEVO 59,790 56,793 5,504 5% 25 Twitter.com 59,323 40,659 29,629 46%
Source: comScore Media Metrix, December2012
Mark
Donovan, comScore SVP for Mobile, says “... 2012 was a watershed year for mobile, with smartphones surpassing 50% penetration and tablets continuing to gain traction... marketers and media
companies are challenged to confront this emerging multi-platform paradigm... “ The ensuing report presents a clear view of today’s digital landscape, and the rapidly expanding usage of
mobile devices, critical to success in the year ahead. Key insights from the 2013 Mobile Future in Focus include:
- With smartphones surpassing 125 million U.S.
consumers and tablets now owned by more than 50 million, we have crossed into the Brave New Digital World, says the report, a new paradigm of digital media fragmentation in which consumers are always
connected. One out of every three minutes online is now spent on devices beyond the PC
- 2012 was a milestone year for the U.S. smartphone market as it finally surpassed 50% market penetration
and now enters the “late majority” stage of the technology adoption curve. The number of smartphone subscribers has increased 29% from a year ago and 99% from two years ago. 72% of all
newly-acquired devices are now smartphones
- Google’s Android OS, adopted by multiple OEMs, and Apple’s iOS, carried exclusively on iPhones, have come to dominate the U.S.
smartphone landscape with nearly 90% of the market today. This market share dominance, reinforced by the two platforms’ well-developed app ecosystems, makes it even more difficult for the
competing platforms to narrow the gap
- Apple continues to gain ground as the leading smartphone OEM, but Samsung has seen the most explosive growth in this market over the past two years with
a year-over-year increase of more than 100% and a two-year increase of more than 400%. Apple maintains a healthy lead over Samsung, but the gap has been steadily narrowing
Top OEMs by Share of Total Mobile Market and Smartphone Market Total Mobile Smartphone
Manufacturer Share Manufacturer Share Samsung
27.1% Apple 36.3% Apple
19.5% Samsung 21.0% LG
17.3% HTC 10.2% Motorola
10.0% Motorola 9.1% HTC
5.6% LG 7.1%
Source: comScore MobiLens, U.S., 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec-2012 Consumers have demonstrated a clear preference for engaging with content on
smartphones via apps, which account for 4 out of every 5 mobile minutes, rather than the mobile web.
- The dynamics of mobile media consumption are proving different from the traditional
web. With the scarcity of app real estate on the smartphone home-screen, consumers are spending more time concentrated on the apps of major media brands rather than with the long tail of brands.
Facebook finished the year as the top U.S. smartphone app, followed by five different Google apps, as major media brands dominated the top of the rankings
- Many U.S. consumers have come to
rely on their smartphones to assist with their in-store shopping, arming them with information in the palm of their hands to ensure they are getting the right product at the best available price. This
“showrooming,” behavior is putting significant price pressure on brick-and-mortar retailers as they are forced to compete with e-commerce retailers within the confines of their own stores.
With the pricing power so clearly in the hands of the consumer today, the retail industry is rapidly being disrupted as e-commerce grows at 4 times the rate of traditional retail while accounting for
1 out of every 10 retail dollars
- The improved availability of high-speed Internet access has significantly enhanced the average user’s media consumption experience, contributing to a
rapid uptick in mobile media consumption. Default Wi-Fi accessibility for smartphones and tablets has not only off-loaded bandwidth from networks, but has also contributed to a better in-home browsing
experience for users
For
more information from comScore,
including complimentary access to the
complete PDF file with charts and graphs, please visit here