UPDATED 11:20 EDT / OCTOBER 13 2011

Mobile Traffic Surging, iOS Devices Dominate

We are now seeing the horizon that harbingers the domination of mobile traffic. It was previously predicted that mobile devices will soon topple traffic for desktop computers, and it’s starting to happen now. comScore reports that smartphones and tablets are the sources of 7 percent of worldwide traffic on the Web.

This marks the first year comScore has covered the mobile traffic scene so there’s no former data to compare the current data with. About 37 percent of cellphone traffic connects via WiFi, growing by as much as 3 percent in as little time as this past three months.

But the rather perplexing statistic is demonstrated by the owners of Apple’s iPad. They account for 97 percent of tablet traffic in the United States even though iPads comprise only 75 percent of tablets in the US. Apple managed to dispatch some 29 million iPads since the April 2010 launch.

Meanwhile, the smartphone arena is dominated by Google’s Android operating system but it covers only 32 percent of mobile traffic.  Apple continues to be the stronghold, even though it’s only 43 percent of the total number of mobile devices. This proves that iOS device owners does some hardcore internet surfing. They fritter away more time on the internet, accounting for 56 percent of mobile usage.

In addition, the population of wireless devices outnumber the US population. There currently are 315 million people living the US and its territories including Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and their mobile device population is 9 percent more than that.

How is this possible? Many adults have more than one wireless device, which include smartphones, tablets, and wireless cards.Analysts have also pointed to the shorter lifecycle of electronics in U.S. homes, a trend prompted mostly by the availability of high-speed wireless access and more affordable devices.

The typical home of 2.6 people has an average of 24 gadgets, including at least one smartphone — double the number 15 years ago, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, a trade group.

The competition between Apple and Android is getting closer all the time, but RIM sure is lagging way behind.  It used to be the leading smartphone seller but it spiraled down to the point that its investors are now seeking to sell a part, if not all, of their shares because of the company’s lackluster performance.


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