The dominance of smartphones in the technology space has been ever-increasing, more so in the recent time. Internet businesses are now becoming mobile-exclusive as more and more users are now opting to use the Web through a hand-held device. In the race of Mobile vs Desktop Internet Usage, a fresh study finds that, for the first time, mobile and tablet Internet usage in October exceeded desktop usage worldwide.
What Does the analysis by StatCounter says about Mobile vs Desktop Internet Usage Battle?
Web analytics company StatCounter claims that mobile and tablet devices accounted for 51.3 percent of Internet usage worldwide in October compared to 48.7 percent by the desktop. The company has even shared a graph that shows a continuous decline in Internet usage on desktops, and a continuous increase in the use of mobiles phones for Web browsing since 2009.
Even though Internet usage on mobile is on the rise, desktops still rule in US and UK countries. In the US, the desktop still accounts for 58 percent of internet usage compared to 42 percent for mobile and tablet. In the UK, desktop holds 56 percent share, while mobile and tablet accounts for 44.4 percent usage. Oon the other hand, Countries like India have large swathes of the population that have only gone online via their mobile phones.
“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,” commented CEO of StatCounter, Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter.
However, the comparison between the Mobile vs Desktop Internet usage is no new. Cullen further asserts the importance of mobile because Google has started favouring mobile-friendly sites in search results as well. Google recently also announced that it is building a primary mobile index for search results in the next few months. The desktop engine will also be maintained, but the mobile index will get more priority and be updated more frequently.
In June, Google also built a website called test my site for developers to measure how well their site performs on mobile and desktop.
