Goin' Mobile

This may be the year that mobile media takes off.  Earlier this year, analysts predicted that more smartphones and tablets would be sold than desktops and laptops this year.  A recent study of top media publications in the U.S. showed 84% delivered content optimized for mobiles (see earlier post), and a post yesterday talked about how one news junkie now primarily uses mobile media to keep informed.
Now comes research on how people use mobile and other media, conducted by Flurry Analytics.  As of this month, people spend an average of 81 minutes a day with mobile apps, compared with 74 minutes on the Web.

The new numbers on apps reflects a 91% increase in time spent on apps since last June.  Analysts at Flurry used Internet usage data from comScore and Alexa, and their own app usage data.  The data suggested that most of the increased app usage came as a result of more frequent sessions rather than a surge in session length.  Time spent on the Internet also increased, but at a much slower rate (16%).

The data on app usage found that games and social media apps accounted for almost 80% of time spent.  Facebook alone accounts for almost one-fifth of all time spent using mobile apps.  Users also tended to go to game and social media apps more frequently, and spent more time per session, than other types of apps.  News apps accounted for 9%, a distant third. A comScore report showed that 38% of all U.S. mobile users had downloaded and used apps, with more than a quarter accessing social media, and a quarter playing games.  Still, in total numbers, the Internet's online audience of 216 million eclipses the roughly 75 million smartphone users.

With the continuing boom in mobile platforms (smartphones and tablets), and the continuing diffusion of broadband networks for access, look for mobile media opportunities to also continue to grow significantly over the near future.  The rise and growth in app usage offers new opportunities, and revenue potential, for existing media to exploit.

Source: "Time Spent on Apps Outpaces Web," Online Media Daily
 "Mobile Apps Put the Web in Their Rear-view Mirror", Flurry.com blog