Mobile Internet Usage Doubles, Smartphone Sales Overtake PC
According to a recent study from Stat Counter Global Stats, mobile internet usage has doubled every year since 2009. Check out the stats in the chart below.
What Increase in Mobile Usage Means for Your Practice
First of all, it means more of your patients are spending more time on their mobile devices. And as you’ll see in the study below, this increase doesn’t appear to be slowing down at all as smartphones now outsell PCs.
Your patients are mobile, they are agile, and they are hostile when they can’t get the information they want on their devices. Create an easy, user-friendly experience with a mobile version of your website, and pay attention to their search habits. Improving their experience with your website, on both PCs and mobile devices, will make them happier website visitors, and increase the likelihood that they become happy patients.
Smartphone Sales Smash Previous Record and Overtake PC Sales
In a story we first found on internet news blog Mashable, smartphone sales have overtaken the PC. While this news may come as little surprise considering the study from Stat Counter above, this is a significant development, especially when you consider the increase in total mobile units sold (63%), and the overall impact Apple has had on this sector.
The original report comes from Canalsys, and shows vendors shipped 488 million smartphones in 2011. Apple and the iPhone had a lot to do with this increase, as the Cupertino company shipped 93.1 million iPhones in 2011, and annihilated the previous record for smartphones shipped in a single quarter by sending out 37 million devices in Q4 2011.
Don’t Go Throwing Your PC in the Trash Just Yet
Despite the impressive smartphone numbers, PC sales are still growing at a decent clip. 2011 saw a 15% increase in number of PCs sold, which totaled 414.6 million units.
Moral of the story? Don’t throw your PC out yet, but if you’re still on the fence about mobile now is the time to jump in.
More Highlights from the Mobile vs. PC Study
- 93.1 million iPhones sold in 2011 represents a 96% growth over 2010
- Total shipments in 2011 increased 63%: 487.7 million units in 2011 vs. 299.7 million in 2010
- Q4 2011 alone saw a 57% increase: 158.5 million units vs. 101.2 million in 2010
- Pad shipments grew by 274% in 2011, and represented 15% of PC growth