Cloud platform provider Citrix released its 4Q 2013 “Citrix Mobile Analytics Report,” offering readers insight into mobile data subscriber usage patterns and their impact on service providers’ networks.
Among the report’s highlights, Citrix examined mobile video data traffic on Twitter’s Vine and Instagram. According to Citrix’s findings, 15-second videos on Instagram’s video sharing platform now represent between 15-30% of total Instagram data traffic on mobile networks.
In addition, the average Instagram video is 1.8x larger than the average Vine video. Instagram is generating six times more mobile traffic than Vine, though the Twitter unit was first to market with its 6-second video sharing platform, Citrix researchers note.
Turning to the Android mobile OS and platform, Citrix found that three apps – Media Player, Mobile Browser, and Google Play – account for 83% of Android device mobile data volume. Media Player alone accounts for more than 50%.
“This is comparable to the 82 percent of data volume associated with the top four apps on iOS devices – Media Player, Safari, App Store, and Facebook – as reported in the second-quarter 2013 Mobile Analytics Report,” the Citrix report authors point out.
Facebook generates substantially less traffic on Android devices than on iOS devices, they added. Facebook represents 1% of Android data traffic and 3% of Android transactions. For iOS devices those numbers are 5% and 6%, respectively.
Mobile advertising has grown substantially along with the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, according to the report. Mobile advertising now accounts for 1.6% of iOS data traffic and 2.2% of Android mobile data traffic, the report says. For 1Q 2012, those numbers were 1% and 2%, respectively.
Mobile data subscribers are served image-based ads twenty times more frequently than video-based ads, a ratio that is likely to change to include much more video ad content in the months and years ahead, the report authors state.
Citrix’s market researchers have also been tracking shifts in leading mobile video formats. “Since 2010, we’ve seen a shift from FLV, a laptop-centric format, to MP4 and DASH, which are smartphone-centric formats,” they highlight.
“Operators can leverage this type of information to better ensure a great user experience. At a macro level, the report findings reflect not just the worldwide proliferation of smartphones but the pervasive nature of mobile video in everyday life and commerce,” Citrix said.
