Time to Mobilize

People are spending more and more time online these days, and more often they’re doing it on their phones. The average American spends approximately 4 hours per day online, which is an 81% increase from 3 years ago. That same person will also spend approximately 5 hours per month browsing online with their smartphone. Smartphones have dominated the tech news headlines over the past couple years. In 2009 alone it’s estimated that smartphones accounted for 14% of all mobile device sales and by 2013 that number should be close to 40%. Wi-Fi hotspots saw 35% of connections coming from smartphones, a 15% increase over the previous year. Within a few years we should see smartphones replace laptops as the dominant mobile device in the market. You don’t need to be a MENSA member to understand the type of growth these numbers imply.

2009 will be looked at as the year mobile started getting into high gear, and if you’re not paying attention…well the repercussions could be costly. A recent survey showed that 19% of Americans were expected to use their smartphones to help them with their shopping this past holiday season. That figure doubles for younger consumers between the ages of 18 and 29. These consumers will have used their phones to research products, find store locations, and to make purchases directly from the device. More and more retailers are setting up mobile commerce sites just as more and more businesses are creating applications to assist consumers in one aspect or another.

These applications (or apps as Apple refers to them) can be incredibly useful, so let’s explore them a bit more. Apps can be downloaded for numerous smartphones across many different networks. Most notably though is Apple’s iPhone and the associated App Store. The iPhone is currently the most popular mobile phone in the U.S. with a 4% market share. Now I know that doesn’t seem like a huge number, but for a manufacturer that makes only a single phone, and that same phone accounts for roughly 50% of all smartphone data in the U.S., it’s huge. Huge might even be an understatement given how popular the App Store has been for Apple. Over 2 billion apps have been downloaded since its launch approximately a year and a half ago. This past Christmas day saw a 1000% increase in downloads, meaning that even more people received iPhones or iPod Touch devices as gifts.

The numbers don’t lie. Mobile is already big and it’s only going to get bigger, and fairly quick at that. So while many businesses are still scratching their heads wondering if now is time to finally upgrade their website...now IS the time to consider even beyond that, deciding when, not if, you need a mobile site, m-commerce site, or application for your business or product.

And by the way, this post would have been so much sweeter if I were able to post it through my iPhone, instead of through my computer. But, we'll get there soon enough.