Mobile devices (including both smartphones and tablets) will account for 73% of time spent using the internet globally in 2018, up from 70% in 2017 and 65% in 2016, according to Zenith’s Mobile Advertising Forecasts 2017, published today.
Mobile internet use has doubled since 2011, when it accounted for 36% of all internet use. By 2019, Zenith expects it to account for 76%.
In the UK, mobile currently accounts for 57% of average daily internet consumption, 13 percentage points behind the global average, with a rise to 64% expected in 2018.
Zenith says this is partly because UK has a large installed base of desktop and laptop computers, while in some of the markets with highest mobile shares of internet use, like China and India, many consumers have gone straight to smartphones without first owning a fixed internet connection.
Spain has the highest share with an estimated 81% of internet use coming from mobile devices this year, followed by Italy (78%), China and the US (each at 77%) and India (73%).
59% of internet advertising expenditure will be mobile in 2018
The amount of money spent on internet ads going to mobile ads has overtaken the amount spent on desktop ads for the first time this year, with Zenith estimating that 53% of all internet adspend will go to ads viewed on mobile devices in 2017, rising to 59% in 2018 and 62% in 2019, when mobile adspend will total US$156 billion and account for 26% of ad spend across all media.
In the UK, the percentage of internet ad spend going to mobile is currently estimated to be at 63% and is expected to rise to 69% in 2018.
Global smartphone penetration to reach 66% in 2018
In 2018, 66% of individuals in the 52 countries surveyed will own a smartphone, up from 63% in 2017 and 58% in 2016.
The rapid expansion of smartphone ownership across the world is slowing down as penetration reaches 80-90% in the most advanced markets. As such, Zenith is forecasting 7% year-on-year growth in 2018, compared to 10% growth in 2017, 14% in 2016 and 21% in 2015.
Zenith predicts that five markets will have smartphone penetration above 90% in 2018: the Netherlands (94%), Taiwan (93%), Hong Kong (92%), Norway and Ireland (each at 91%).
In the UK, penetration is expected to reach 69% in 2018.
The country with the highest number of smartphone users will be China, with 1.3 billion users, followed by India, with 530 million users. The US will be third, with 229 million users.
Tablet penetration stabilising at about 20%
Tablet ownership varies widely across the 52 countries in the report – exceeding 50% in 12 markets, and less than 10% in seven.
Tablet ownership is most common in the Netherlands (74% penetration), Australia (66%) and Ireland (65%). In the UK, tablet ownership is currently at 59%, with this expected to rise to 60% by 2018.
This compares to China, where penetration is just 4.8% compared to 85.4% for smartphones.
Globally, Zenith estimate tablet penetration at 18.7% this year, up slightly from 17.8% in 2016. It appears to be stabilising at about 20%: we forecast penetration levels of 19.5% in 2018 and 20.1% in 2019.
