Mobile devices are becoming the medium of choice to access the Internet, with more than two-thirds of all Internet users surveyed doing so daily.
This is according to Mobile Web Watch 2012, a study of consumers in Europe, Latin America and SA conducted by Accenture.
Consumers are using multiple devices, including smartphones (61%), netbooks (37%) and tablets (22%), to connect to the Web.
The study found that emerging economies such as Brazil, SA and Russia are frontrunners in the adoption of mobile devices (more than 70%, on average) to access the Internet. Given their affordability, smartphones are more likely than other devices to serve as access gateways to the Internet in these emerging markets, says Accenture.
Trend to continue
This trend is set to continue, with a higher percentage of respondents in emerging markets expressing their intention to buy a Web-enabled mobile phone in the near future (Brazil, 78%; Russia, 73%; Mexico, 61%; and SA, 57%) as compared with an average of 46% for all countries surveyed.
Mobile Internet is also on the rise in developed European economies, Accenture adds. In Germany, adoption of mobile Internet access via smartphones has tripled since 2010 (from 17% to 51%).
In Switzerland, 67% of respondents use Web-enabled mobile phones to go online, compared to 27% in 2010. In Austria, the percentage of mobile Internet users has doubled in two years (from 31% to 62%).
"The growth in use of mobile devices to access the Internet, in conjunction with a willingness to pay for mobile services such as cloud or premium services, is opening up a host of opportunities for market players in the communications, media and technology industries," says Mark Joseph, executive director in Accenture SA's Communications, Media & Technology operating group.
"Companies would do well to leverage the efficiencies of this mass market. We believe that this can be achieved through innovation and, more importantly, through collaboration among all the players in the value chain of the communications, media and technology industries," he adds.
A growing ecosystem
According to Accenture, a growing ecosystem of mobile apps is fuelling the rapid growth of the mobile Internet, providing consumers easy access to services they consider important. Seventy-one percent of mobile Internet users have downloaded programs or apps to their mobile devices.
Information apps, such as train schedules, the weather, or news, are the most popular, according to nearly three quarters (72%) of survey respondents, followed closely by entertainment apps (70%). Eighty-five percent of respondents said the quality of the network was the most important factor in selecting a smartphone or tablet.
The study also revealed that connecting with other users is the most important activity among mobile Internet users. Sending or receiving e-mails through an installed program is the most popular feature among all respondents (70%), followed by accessing online communities (62%) and instant messaging (61%).
For younger users, online communities and instant messaging have become key tools to connect with other users. Two thirds (68%) of the 14- to 19-year-old respondents use them at least daily. Some 16% of this age group are "heavy users", communicating via online communities and instant messaging more than 10 times a day on a mobile device. A significantly smaller segment of respondents, aged 30-plus, use these services on a daily basis, with percentages ranging from 41% to 57%, and only 3% to 9% are heavy users.
The biggest users
Respondents in the emerging markets of Mexico and SA are the biggest users of mobile e-mail and instant messaging (more than 80% of respondents in both countries). Among all respondents, 27% use their mobile devices for tweeting and blogging, and almost half - 46% - use mobile devices to conduct banking transactions.
Accenture notes that the survey highlights the significant growth potential of fee-based cloud or mobile premium services such as news, financial data or games.
Among those surveyed, 59% are aware of cloud or data storage services, and 78% of this group are willing to pay for cloud applications. There are even more takers for premium services, with 87% of respondents willing to pay for them.
"This strong demand for mobile-based information, entertainment and social networking activities will require a considerable sustained investment in infrastructure upgrades," says Joseph.
"Companies need to react quickly, transform their operating models and use mobile and cloud-based customer relationship management technologies to keep pace with the changing demands of their customers."
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