Ahead of the new iPhone 6 launch today, new research suggests that a larger screen size could boost Apple’s market share.
The 2014 Mobile Benchmark Report from Adobe analyses the latest mobile trends including the correlation of screen size and browser market share, the role of social networks across smartphones and tablets, content sharing across devices, Wi-Fi versus mobile network usage and more.
According to the Digital Index report and in advance of the rumoured Apple announcements today, the screen size of the next generation iPhone must increase to reverse the decline in Apple’s mobile browser market share.
Other key findings include:
• 36% of all referral visits from social networks to retail sites come from tablets and smartphones
• Pinterest emerged as the most mobile social network, with 64 % of its referrals triggered via mobile browsers
• Mobile referral visits from Tumblr produce the highest revenue per visit, 39% more than Facebook
• iBeacons and geo targeting are becoming mainstream with 18% of mobile marketers already using iBeacons and the number is expected to double in 2015
• More consumers choose to access the Web via Wi-Fi. Over 50 percent of smartphone browsing and 93 percent of tablet browsing now come from Wi-Fi rather than cellular networks
Adobe’s Mobile Benchmark Report is a comprehensive analysis of mobile trends based on aggregated Adobe Marketing Cloud and Adobe Digital Publishing Suite data from 18 billion visits to more than 10,000 websites and over 700 million mobile app sessions. The accompanying mobile survey is based on interviews with over 3,000 mobile users and over 100 marketers of major US brands.
“The mobile landscape is constantly evolving and mobile needs to be front and centre of any digital marketing strategy to keep up with technology innovations and consumer expectations,” said John Mellor, vice president of strategy and business development, Adobe Marketing Cloud.
“Major brands face tremendous competition in the battle for reaching mobile consumers. 2015 will be a game changing year for marketers who must deliver highly personalised content across screens.”
Key findings include:
• Mobile browsers: Market share for Chrome Mobile increased by 5.7 percent to 34.6 percent while Safari Mobile fell by 2.6 percent to 59.1 percent. Apple iPhone and iPad still drive the most mobile Web visits with 54 percent and 80 percent market share respectively. Samsung placed second for both browsing on smartphones (24 percent) and tablets (seven percent). With a five percent share, Amazon came in third for mobile browsing on tablets.
• Screen size and mobile browsing: Without a larger screen phone, Apple’s mobile browser share is expected to further decline. Phones with larger screens drive more Web traffic than ever before. Web browsing on four-inch or larger phones grew by 132 percent year-over-year (YoY) while browsing on smaller phones (four-inch or less) decreased by 11 percent YoY. In addition, tablet browsing flattened and only saw a minor increase of 1.8 percent YoY.
• Social networks across devices: Thirty-six percent of all referral visits from social networks to retail sites come from tablets and smartphones. Pinterest is the most mobile social network with 64 percent of its referrals triggered via mobile browsers. Tumblr referrals drive the highest revenue per visit from mobile devices, 39 percent more than Facebook. In addition, bounce rates for referrals from social networks are higher on mobile devices than desktops, 61 percent versus 53 percent, respectively.
• Access and sharing of content across screens: More consumers choose to access the Web via Wi-Fi. Over 50 percent of smartphone browsing and 93 percent of tablet browsing now come from Wi-Fi rather than cellular networks. In addition, mobile users are sharing more digital magazine content via text messaging than ever before. The use of Apple iMessage saw the strongest increase with 259 percent YoY. Sharing content via Facebook is down by 42.6 percent.
• iBeacons and geo targeting: In an accompanying mobile survey, Adobe found that iBeacons and geo targeting are becoming mainstream. Eighteen percent of mobile marketers already use iBeacons and the number is expected to double in 2015. Almost half of marketers (49 percent) use GPS positioning to reach mobile users with their brands. Thirty-three percent of mobile users take advantage of mobile assisted in-store shopping.
Read the full report here