Tuesday, 11 Octorber 2011

Smartphones and tablets now generate 6.8 percent of all digital traffic in the U.S., with mobile phones responsible for about two-thirds of that traffic, according to new data published by digital research firm comScore.

Half of the total U.S. population now accesses mobile media, comScore states--116 million subscribers browsed the mobile web, downloaded content or used mobile apps during the 12 month period ending in August 2011, up 19 percent year-over-year. Wi-Fi connections account for 37.2 percent of U.S. digital traffic over mobile phones, up 3 percent over the last three months--at the same time, tablets are driving mobile broadband access, with close to 10 percent of traffic tablet originating on devices powered by a mobile network connection.

Apple's iPad is the runaway leader among tablets, accounting for 97.2 percent of all U.S. tablet traffic. According to comScore, the iPad now represents 46.8 percent of all digital traffic across iOS devices, surpassing Apple's iPhone (42.6 percent). In all, iOS yields 58.5 percent of non-computer traffic in the U.S., almost double Google's Android at 31.9 percent and far ahead of Research In Motion's BlackBerry at 5.0 percent.

Almost half of all U.S. tablet owners have made purchases on their device, comScore adds. Fifty-six percent looked up product or price information for specific stores, and 54 percent read customer ratings and reviews. In addition, 58 percent of tablet owners consumed local, national or world news and almost 60 percent updated their social networking status or commented on a friend's status.