Around 40% of the money spent on accessing the web last year was spent on mobile internet usage, largely due to the growth of of smartphones, according to a new report.
The study, from PwC, went on to predict that mobile will account for a 46% by 2016, as more and more users ditch traditional computers in favour of portable devices.
Phil Stokes, PwC’s senior partner of Entertainment & Media, said the proportion of internet access spent on mobile is growing fastest in developing countries, where many users have never had access to fixed-line broadband services. “In places like India, the wire infrastructure is virtually non-existent so mobile is the primary device for accessing the internet,” he said.
Spend on mobile internet access is also rising rapidly in the UK, but the combination of relatively low-cost mobile data services and a well established broadband infrastructure mean it will lag slightly behind the world average.
Mobile usage is expected to account for around 32pc of all UK web access by 2016.
According to PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook report, a near-600 page tome published annually, online advertising revenues are also set for a sharp rise over the next five years.
In the UK they are expected to grow by an average of 12pc a year to around £8.75bn in 2016, the equivalent of around half of Britain’s entire ad spend.
Online advertising is the only UK media sector set for double-digit growth.
Source: PwC