Mobile Web Grows In Importance As Annual Traffic Increases By 102%

There’s an increasing focus on the mobile platform, being signalled as the future for companies and brands, and with it, a number of reports either support or denounce this trend. With enough reports and infographics floating around the web, it’s difficult to see which reports are worth noticing and which ones are best ignored.

The latest to arrive is from Walker Sands‘ who recently published their Quarterly Web Traffic Report for 2011. They found that around 12.6% of total web traffic came from mobile devices in the last quarter of 2011, an increase of 102% from the 6.25% registered back in the same period in 2010. In comparison to Q3 in 2011, the percentage of web traffic from mobile increased by 2.3%, the highest increase seen that year.

This increase could be down to the festive season where shoppers would have used their smartphones for purchase,s although the year long trends suggest that this way of shopping is growing in popularity. The growth of mobile web use has been steady over the past year with a increase in growth experienced from the second quarter onwards.

Android was the most popular operating system commanding a 46% share of the market, an increase of 19% since Q3. Apple held 31% of the market, falling by 17% since Q3, and the iPad holding 16%. Blackberry were the real losers clinging on to 4% of the market, a drop that could be attributed to its widespread problems that it experienced during October. Due to the low volume of Windows Mobile and Symbian used, they were not included in the final percentage figures.

Before we get too carried away, there are some caveats within this report. For example, while they say they’ve analysed a wide range of B2B and B2C companies, their methodology notes states that a dozen Walker Sands clients were sampled for the report and that they were all U.S. based companies.

This doesn’t entirely bode well if you’re want a clear idea as to where the sector is heading although this could be an indication that either (a) businesses are still adapting to mobile, albeit slowly, or (b) Walker Sands didn’t have a large number of companies to analyse. Also there’s no indication as to what size these businesses are or even an indication as to the number of visits received via mobile overall so all of a sudden, such statistics look less impressive.

In saying all this, the web percentage does reflect the growing use of smartphones and feature phones in developing and aiding consumer choice. Yet until a comprehensive report analysing the U.S. or international trends, it’s best to treat such stats with caution.