The research team at iStrategyLabs have produced and launched an infographic for Mobile Futurethat highlights the exponential growth in mobile data traffic — and what this subsequently means for the consumer market.
Less than a decade ago, mobile phones were used for little more than taking calls,
sending text-based messages and checking email. Now, they can be considered social media hubs, the way you check the weather or your flight schedule, and the means to share video and images across digital platforms.
A phone is considered a portable computing, gaming and social device rather than simply a means to place a call or send a quick message — and the younger generation are increasingly reliant on being able to access information quickly. The wide range of features, speeds and applications does more than simply make our lives more convenient – it also pushes data usage and transfer up to far higher levels than a decade ago.
Charting this change in our mobile habits, the research found that:
- 792 mobile apps are downloaded every second.
- 29 million mobile users streamed music last year.
- Video content accounts for 52 percent of mobile data traffic and usage.
- Facebook hosts 1627 mobile status updates per second.
- Instagram reported an increase of 1900 percent in the number of photos posted in a single year — likely to increase due to its new availability on Android.
The researchers expect that due to this expansion in data consumption, capacity will be ‘exceeded’ only next year, and a deficit may emerge in the following. For more information, view the infographic below:
