Where there is mobility, there is prosperity–mobile’s Midas touch, as the cliché goes. Clearly, anything that has to do with the likes of Android, Samsung and Apple are gaining incredible momentum, thanks to man’s affinity to mobile devices. The mobile industry has various segments that have turned into billion-dollar segments, including mobile payments and mobile ads.  Jiwire realizes how mobile consumerism drives the game to another level. In its latest study, the global mobile ads network focused on several industry elements: connected device trends, mobile shopping behavior, location trends, connected device adoption and wi-fi location hotspots.

Connected Device Ownership Leans Toward Small Devices

Portability is in, and the on-the-go audience is showing a strong influence in the mobile devices sales predictions.  In the next 6 months, around 49% of the consumers will purchase smartphones and tablets, as opposed to the 16% who will be shelling out for a new laptop. The pattern is coherent with the comparative data that revealed an increase of 4-5% in smartphone and tablet ownership from Q2 to Q3 of 2011. There was a significant decline of 11% in laptop procurement, from 90% from previous quarter to just 79% in the last three months.

The tablet is a sturdy propeller of mobile device’s uprising.  Between the last two quarters, ad requests have reached a 99% increase. The top three tablets in the market today are the Apple iPad, Galaxy Tab and Dell Streak (though the Dell Streak won’t be winning any top spots from now on). The Galaxy Tab has shown the biggest leap, from 2.2% to 13.1%.

Online vs In-store Shopping: It’s a Draw

Almost 63% of consumers preferred to shop both online and in-store. Only 22% and 15% would like to exclusively shop in-store and online respectively. But what is quite surprising is that 18% of customers who are actually in-store still engage in online shopping via a connected device. Location also plays a big role in the consumer shopping behavior.

David Staas, senior vice president of marketing at JiWire, explains the present-day trend:

 “The retail experience remains critical.  While consumers are increasingly using mobile to research and make purchases, we are seeing that the in-store shopping experience is equally if not more important, even with a tech-savvy audience. This holiday season, brands have a great opportunity to not only leverage digital and mobile, but also execute ‘clicks-to-bricks’ approaches to drive in-store traffic, utilizing location and proximity to deliver the right advertising experience.”

Apple Prevails Despite Shares Loss

Apple has slightly lost its market grip in the last quarter, with iPhone, iPod Touch and iOS’ negative increase in shares. The iPad is relatively strong as it posted a 2.9% augmentation. Although 3 out 4 Apple products have shown weak performances for the third quarter–the world’s favorite brand still is dominating big time.

The Global Wi-Fi Invasion

The convenience of wireless fidelity is being enjoyed by more and more users now, especially in countries like the UK, South Korea and Japan—all of which recorded double digit growth rates from the second quarter to the third.  Worldwide, paid wi-fi lords the chart with 77.6%. The opposite is true in the US where 58% is free and only 23.6% is paid. The sum of public Wi-Fi locations has practically doubled in since 2010.

Another segment of the industry that has been exhibiting exponential growth is mobile advertising. Together with apps, ads have been a hot item during the last Cyber Monday mobile shopping craze. In the United States, a mobileSQUARED study revealed that mobile ads will spend more than $2 billion in 2012. This will swim along the rapids of smartphones and tablets sales.

mobileSQUARED Chief Analyst Nick Lane gives his insights on the outcome of the research.

“The strong growth of smartphones is generating an incredible uplift in inventory and having a powerful impact on mobile advertising in the US! The total mobile advertising spend will jump from $1.34 billion to $2.01 billion in 2012 thanks to companies like adsmobi, that are helping to push the sector forward by delivering rich media capabilities that are enticing more agencies and brands to invest in mobile display.”

Businesses within the abode of mobility show no signs of slowing down. This is supported by the report that indicated marketing efforts in 2012 will be driven primarily by smartphones. With steep market demands, tight competition and vast room for opportunities—who would not want to join the crazy, but extremely productive bandwagon.