I made three charts free from the brand new TomiAhonen Almanac 2017, that just came out last week. The charts were selected based on a vote by readers - and among the 3 most requested was the Internet Users chart. Lets dig a bit deeper into this chart and what all we know about internet use both on mobile and on personal computers. Lets start first with the vote-winner chart itself. This shows internet access based on how people access the internet, while allowing users to list multiple ways to access. So the total internet use is 3.5 Billion and some use only one way to access while others use more than one way, such as accessing on a work PC and on the smartphone at home.
Now lets dig a bit deeper, Lets take a few 'pairs' of findings based on this graphic
INTERNET USE BY A PERSONAL COMPUTER IN 2017
Total Internet Users Globally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 Billion
Internet Access by PC of any kind at least some time . . 1.7 Billion people
Internet Access by People who Never Use a PC . . . . . . 1.8 Billion people
Source TomiAhonen Almanac 2017
This table may be freely shared
So first off, if you wanted to think that the internet is 'only half way' moved along the path to the mobile internet - then this type of evidence can be found. It does seem like 1.7 Billion use a PC (at least part of the time) and 1.8 Billion use a mobile. This is perilous thinking, Lets take the same graphic and now take the opposite reach.
INTERNET USE BY A MOBILE PHONE IN 2017
Total Internet Users Globally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 Billion
Internet Access by Mobile of any kind at least some time . . 3.3 Billion people
Internet Access by People who Never Use a Mobile . . . . . . 0.2 Billion people
Source TomiAhonen Almanac 2017
This table may be freely shared
Wow? Yes, that is true. The shift to a mobile internet is 'not just past its half-point'. It is 'nearly completed' and 94% of all who access the internet today do so on a mobile phone - at least part of the time! Yes, 3.3 Billion people access the internet on a mobile phone at least part of the time and only 200 million are left of those very luddite people who will not use a mobile phone for their internet browsing and only do so on a PC.
WHAT KIND OF MOBILE?
So first, lets remember a tablet is not a mobile phone. A tablet is an ultra-portable PC. So tablet use is not counted in 'mobile internet' stats in this table nor on this blog or in my books or in the Almanac 2017. Tablets are ultra-portable PCs and this is increasingly the definition also accepted by the PC side of the argument. So when I say 'internet from mobile' in this article today, or in my books etc, I always mean 'real' mobile as in a phone you can put in your pocket. A large-screen smartphone ie 'phablet' is a mobile (like an iPhone 6 Plus) but a tablet is not a mobile (like an iPad). Tablets are counted in the PC side on the table we are examining.
So returning to the question, what kind of mobile? We get a lot of illumination from the chart. It shows the count by smartphones. What surprises many experts and analysts in the West, is that there are still many who use a mobile phone to access the internet - whose mobile phone is not a smartphone! How is that balance going? We have the data.
INTERNET USE VIA A SMARTPHONE AND FEATUREPHONE IN 2017
Total Internet Users Globally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 Billion
Internet Access by Mobile of any kind at least some time . . 3.3 Billion people
Internet Access by Mobile using a Smartphone . . . . . . . . . . 2.8 Billion people
Internet Access by Mobile using a Featurephone . . . . . . . . 0.5 Billion people
Source TomiAhonen Almanac 2017
This table may be freely shared
Yes out of all 3.3 Billion active mobile internet users, 500 million today still do not own a smartphone and are using a featurephone to access the internet. That is 15% of all mobile internet users globally. And to put it in context - more people access the internet on a 'dumbphone' featurephone - than the total usage of internet at internet cafes around the world. That should make you think a moment. How many of those featurephones still use WAP to access the internet on a non-3G network? 200 million. So yeah. As many people as those who never go to the internet on a mobile phone, now still surf the internet on very rudimentary basic WAP pages on a 2G network connection speed.
AND OF PC USERS
So lets then look on the PC side. We do have the actual count of tablet PC users (800 million) out of total PC+Tablet users (1.7 Billion). So the tablet is now almost at half-point of all PC-based internet access.
INTERNET USE BY A PERSONAL COMPUTER AND TABLET IN 2017
Total Internet Users Globally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 Billion
Internet Access by PC of any kind at least some time . . 1.7 Billion people
Internet Access by Tablet PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8 Billion people
Source TomiAhonen Almanac 2017
This table may be freely shared
So 47% of all who use a PC of some kind to access the internet, are now using a Tablet PC at least part of the time. That will shift over to more than half this year 2017 as the total active population of Tablet PCs slowly approaches the 1 Billion level (it won't get there this year). Out of the Almanac 2017 I can reveal that there are more phablets in use today than tablets but you'll need to buy the Almanac 2017 if you want more such details. This was the freebie gift that my readers voted to make free out of the 107 charts and tables in the Almanac.
If you would like more information about the internet mobile or PC based, please see the TomiAhonen Almanac 2017. It has a whole chapter just on the mobile internet which has the following charts and tables:
Chapter 6 of the TomiAhonen Almanac 2017 - MOBILE INTERNET (16 pages, 9 charts)
Mobile Human Subscriptions, Messaging and Premium Data Users 2003-2016
Mobile Data User Numbers by Different Definitions
Internet Access by Type Allowing For Multiple Use 2002-2016
Access Method of Internet Users 2016
Internet Access Method Allowing Multiple Methods (this is the chart you see in the above)
Mobile Data Users Regionally
Total Mobile Data Revenues 2003-2016
Mobile Premium Data Revenus as Average Per Subscriber 2003-2016
Mobile VAS Data ARPU by Active VAS User 2003-2016
To see more of the TomiAhonen Almanac 2017 - 215 pages, 207 charts and tablets, costing only 9.99 Euros / 9.49 UK Pounds / 13.99 US Dollars - including ordering information, see TomiAhonen Almanac 2017 Information and Ordering Page.
The shift is interesting. Numbers like this must have Microsoft terrified.
Posted by: Wayne Borean | March 07, 2017 at 04:35 AM
I assume that with "using the internet" you mean "browsing the WWW", including some web replacements apps like Facebook and twitter.
Or are there people whose internet use is limited to Whatsap or email?
Posted by: Winter | March 07, 2017 at 07:18 AM
This is way too broad.
Of course I use "the internet" on my phone, but it's restricted to email, messaging and quick lookups because it's simply not comfortable on such a small screen to read lengthy articles (like the website I am currently posting on.)
I still to most on my PC but since I am grouped in 'both' it gives a very warped image of what is being done. This statistic would be worth something if it broke down "internet usage" into different kinds of activities - and into different countries.
And another thing that's entirely missing here is how much time people are spending in the internet on which device.
And why should Microsoft be scared? The people who don't use a PC are not even their customers - many may have owned a PC in the past that got upgraded every 6-7 years or so, but they are certainly not a source of profit and never were.
Posted by: Tester | March 07, 2017 at 02:58 PM
Hi Wayne, Winter & Tester
Wayne - Lol yeah should have many muttering under their breaths about (we knew this is how it would play out)
Winter - It is a wide mix. Facebook is the biggest single service used obviously but Skype is a VOIP service, email has its users, etc. Much of it is WWW but not all.
Tester - I don't see why? The internet is changing based on how its users are changing it. I was there to see the birth of commerce on the internet (ruining its 'purity') and before the consumer use of the internet it was the university network and before that Arpanet for miliatry. This happens almost always with computers that the usage changes and the newer users bring broader and more consumer-oriented uses. It doesn't make it any less relevant or real.
Now on YOUR use haha (and mine and those of us on this blog) - most of us are not using the mobile exclusively on a mobile. But Tester, more than HALF of all who access the internet, will never use a PC (and typically won't even know how to use a mouse for example). We are the 'old school' users. Our use will not be 'typical' anymore. The majority doesn't have ACCESS to a PC or tablet. For them there is no choice, they HAVE to do whatever they want to do on the internet, on their mobile - and for some that is a featurephone, and for some even a T9 based WAP phone.
I believe the PC vs mobile usage will shift so that increasingly the PC becomes the 'production' platform for the internet while mobile is the consumption platform. Professionals (haha and semi-pro bloggers) will typically use a 'real' PC type of platform including tablets, but almost all actual 'users' of the internet ie consumers, will only consume via a mobile.
Wayne (2nd comment) - totally agree, especially in the last part, its not a monolith anymore (if it ever was) and regional differences in internet use are considerable.
Tomi Ahonen :-)
Posted by: Tomi T Ahonen | March 08, 2017 at 12:39 AM
Nokia Flagship Smartphone With Snapdragon 835 SoC to Launch in June: Report
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/nokia-flagship-smartphone-with-snapdragon-835-soc-to-launch-in-june-report-1667415
Posted by: paul | March 08, 2017 at 08:53 AM
@Tomi
I'm trying to understand this, but it's really hard to imagine 200 million PC user use an internet on PC, but not on phone. I think if someone is savvy enough to use internet on PC, he/she will be able to use internet on phone in one form or the other.
Perhaps is the definition of the internet in the survey that were mis-interpreted? For example, A person might only read e-mail on PC, chatting on PC (perhaps with iRC), doing facebook on PC, but might be use the internet on the phone to play game (that show ads), or listening to internet radio (on wifi).
Posted by: Abdul Muis | March 08, 2017 at 08:35 PM
@Abdul:
One of those 200 million users is my brother. He only owns a dumbphone with a cheap voice/SMS-only contract and logically doesn't use mobile for internet at all.
He doesn't own a smartphone because he believes he doesn't need it.
In any case, I can only restate that this statistic is missing some key pieces to draw any conclusions from it, because I also see some very limited internet use in people mainly using a smartphone for internet access that vastly differs from what I am doing, for example.
Posted by: Tester | March 08, 2017 at 09:18 PM
@Tester, @WayneBrady
Ditto. Same situation, older generation, PCs as unique entry point to the Internet, and feature phones for mobile communications.
But in truth: getting granular data about access profiles is hard.
Posted by: E.Casais | March 09, 2017 at 07:07 PM
Hi everybody
Hey Abdul, great question and thanks for good answers to the readers..
It is a SHIFT. So in year 1996 there was no way to get to the internet on a mobile phone (before the original Nokia Communicator). At that point internet access was 100% from personal computers. Since then it is a shift. We passed the half-point in year 2009 if you remember (many of you are regular readers and have been tracking this with me).
Today the majority of access is mobile, about 55% is only mobile, about 40% is mixed PC and mobile, and about 5% is only-PC. So the proportion of only-PC has kept shrinking. It is now mathematically at that 'approx 200 million' level which mostly is older users in the rich world, who have had a PC to access the internet for a decade or more, and simply never got around to bothering to do the pocket internet thing...
That number keeps shrinking obviously. A second slice to it, is the occasional internet cafe user - who doesn't own an internet-capable phone (or can't afford its data connection) or who doesn't KNOW how to use the internet on the phone but uses the familiar thing at the internet cafe - imagine an illiterate labor worker in a foreign country, who calls home using Skype from the internet cafe. His friend or relative taught how to get onto Skype at the internet cafe. This type of user is not technically capable to do that on his own phone even if that phone happened to have technically the capability haha..
Tomi Ahonen :-)
Posted by: Tomi T Ahonen | March 09, 2017 at 10:20 PM
@tester
Why Microsoft needs to be scared? Samsung Dex. If you only use a PC to browse, play music and use office lightly than the Dex is good enough.
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