In a recent study by comScore (via AppleInsider), smartphones, tablets and other handheld devices are now generating over 7% of total web traffic in the United States. Totaling web traffic from all iOS devices reveals a 58.5% slice from this 7% with iPad generating the most of it. The study also claims that 97.2% of the total web traffic from all tablet users comes from the iPad which clearly shows that competitors are not yet even close to producing a significant tablet competitor. Among iOS users, iPad now accounts for 46.8 percent of all traffic generated, making it now a more prolific tool than the iPhone for mobile web use, which represents 42.6 percent of iOS traffic.
The report also highlights why this growth in tablet traffic is so significant, noting that almost half of tablet owners have completed purchases using their tablet:
“Tablet owners exhibited significant use of their devices throughout the entire online shopping process, from doing the initial planning, conducting product and store research, making price comparisons, to finally transacting. In the past month, more than half of tablet owners looked up product or price information for a specific store (56 percent) and read customer ratings and reviews while on a tablet (54 percent).”
“The incremental reach through mobile and connected devices should not be underestimated. In August 2011, the additional mobile and connected device audience for Pandora accounted for more than half of their total cross-platform audience.”
While Apple has a minor lead over Android with iOS as a mobile platform in terms of its installed base (unique users), it has a major lead in the mobile traffic those users engage in.
