Mobile subscribers are increasingly connecting to the Internet and searching the Web: the number of mobile search transactions per subscriber rose 25% between February 2012 and 2Q 2013, according to the latest Citrix ByteMobile Mobile Analytics Report, which “provides insight into mobile data subscriber usage patterns and the impact this behavior has on operators’ networks.”
Google, Yahoo and Bing accounted for nearly all (97%) of mobile search data volume, with Google accounting for a whopping 87%. In addition, “the average mobile subscriber using Yahoo generates a greater volume per transaction than a subscriber using Google or Bing,” according to the report.
Video and Web activity make up the lion’s share of mobile network data volume by content, both in North America and worldwide. YouTube activity represented 82% of mobile traffic on video entertainment sites. Looking at data intensity, Citrix ByteMobile determined that one mobile YouTube visit consumes as much data as 10 mobile Facebook visits.
Netflix accounted for 6% of mobile video entertainment traffic, ranking second. Netflix viewing sessions generate 5% more data than YouTube mobile visits, “reflecting, in part, the differing nature of content on the two sites,” Citrix ByteMobile noted.
“Mobile audio, especially music, is a growing category of mobile data volume, now generating a significant portion of traffic,” however, according to the Citrix ByteMobile report.
Including Internet radio and audio file downloads, mobile audio accounted for 12% of mobile data volume in North America and 4% across all other markets. Internet radio accounted for “the vast majority of this volume.”
Citrix ByteMobile found that just four apps – Media Player, Safari, App Store and Facebook – accounted for 82% of mobile data volume on Apple iOS devices. The top 4 apps by volume also generated 52% of mobile data transactions.
Facebook’s share, at 5% of mobile data volume and 6% of transactions, increased the former’s relative volume 5x above its February 2012 level. In contrast, App Store’s relative share of mobile data volume fell from 15% to 11%.
eBay’s mobile app became the first ecommerce app to surpass the 1% threshold, generating “enough traffic to be a significant mobile data contributor.”
Turning to mobile map apps, Google Maps usage on Apple devices exceeds that of Apple’s own map app, with “Google Maps generating a slight majority of mobile app data volume.” North American mobile iOS device users, favor Apple’s map app 63% to 37%, however. Google Maps dominates across the rest of the world, reaching its highest level (80%) in the Asia-Pacific region.
