Better Browsing on the Mobile Horizon
In the beginning man created the telephone, and it was good. It was too good, in fact, to stay on kitchen counters and living-room coffee tables; we wanted our phones out in the streets, portable, ready whenever we were. We gave them booths on the corner, we wired them into car consoles, but it wasn’t enough. We wanted to plug into the world without plugging into a wall, and cellular technology was the answer. Today, these mobile multi-taskers seem overqualified for the jobs they were first intended to do. They’re still phones, yes, but they are also GPS-powered maps, morning alarm clocks, handheld gaming systems, music repositories, cameras, and now, more and more, personal computers - complete with internet access. But how ubiquitous is mobile browsing? At the moment, not very. But it will be.
The question is not whether cell-phone internet is the next big frontier; that much seems clear. Every major cell provider offers web-ready products. The app stores that supply them with features are growing at exponential rates. And more and more companies, including some WD clients, are choosing to offer their websites in mobile-friendly formats. It’s safe to call mobile browsing the wave of the future - and if you compare its growth rate with the advent of AOL and Netscape browsing in the 90s, it begins to look more like a tsunami. As time goes on, part of the generation gap will be structural: HTML5, incompatible with current versions of Internet Explorer, is a good example. Since IE is not a feature on the mobile landscape, the HTML5 markup will make headway much faster there than it will on desktops, which are still dominated by the Microsoft browser.
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According to data from gs.statcounter.com, internet access via cell phone accounts for 2.2% of all browsing; in North America, the figure hovers just under 3%. Smartphones may seem to be everywhere, but they’re not yet the tool of choice for surfing the web.
It’s easy to see why: while mobile browsing is certainly more convenient than laptops for on-the-go users, fashion has yet to catch up with function. The internet was designed for large screens, point-and-click navigation, and increasingly fast connection speeds. But as mobile browsing catches up - and Morgan Stanley analysts predict that it will outpace desktop use by 2015 - the web will need to become phone-friendly. Fewer features per page, bigger fonts, and touch-screen buttons will optimize navigation for smaller and (for now, at least) slower devices. So far, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter seem to be winning the redesign race, but other industries are taking the hint. At WD, we’re watching the trend unfold firsthand. We launched m.wrigley.com just a few weeks ago, and other mobile sites are in the works as clients express interest in adapting their online presence.
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Content on the web will continue to evolve, but who’s going to deliver it? In North America, it’s the usual suspects: currently, the iPhone and iPod command 44.83% of the mobile browsing market, with Blackberry (27.16%) and Android (13.53%) coming in second and third. Worldwide, it’s a different story - iPhones and iPods still take the lead at 29.26% combined, but have a strong competitor in Opera Mini (the mobile version of Opera, with 26.3%), which has been the browser of choice in European and Asian markets and can be downloaded in place of a device’s default web application. Nokia comes next, with 15.56%, Blackberry at 13.58%, and Android trails with 6.17%.
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But those numbers don’t tell the whole story - for the bigger picture, we need to look at timelines instead of snapshots. The graph below, which represents the popularity of various mobile browsers in the US from January of 2009 to today, suggests that we’re moving towards a more equal division of the market. At this time last year, for example, Apple products dominated about 70% of American usage. Today that figure is closer to 40%, largely because smartphone sales are rising, and more viable options on the shelves translate into increasingly diverse buyer selections. While the iPhone and iPod have trended downward, though, Android phones have risen steadily - from 0% in June of 2009 to 15% currently - and Blackberry has enjoyed the steepest gains of all, from 5% in April of last year to a solid third of the market today. And worldwide, Opera Mini is showing no signs of dropping; if anything, it seems poised to take the lead as the other brands converge in the middle. This is a moot point for sites whose intended audience is specifically North American, but a more global enterprise may want to keep Opera Mini’s popularity in mind.
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The conclusion: preference is diversifying. Apple earned a devoted base early in the mobile browsing game, and consumers will keep paying up for the tantalizing new gizmos it creates to comb the web. (At the WD office, we’ve taken turns playing with the iPad and fantasizing about the latest iPhone due for release in June). As other brands refine their offerings, though, the industry will be less of a one-horse show. Over the next few years, “more” will be the motto of mobile browsing: more providers to supply it, more consumers that use it, and more specialized content to access once they’re there.
