Smartphone users love Wi-Fi
AdMob, a mobile advertising marketplace, revealed that smartphone users, in particular those who own iPhones, have been logging onto Wi-Fi networks in large numbers over the past few months. They predict Blackberry and T-Mobile Android G1 users will also use Wi-Fi more often. The survey shows that in the US, “8 percent of total requests in November were on Wi-Fi networks, up from 3 percent in August. 42 percent of iPhone requests are made from WiFi, notably higher than most other WiFi capable phones which average between 10-20 percent. iPhone WiFi usage is generally higher on iPhone specific sites and applications than on normal mobile sites.”
There are several reasons why iPhone owners use Wi-Fi more often than other smartphone owners:
- Om Malik says it’s the unreliability of AT&T’s 3G network, which has suffered many outages in the US.
- The iPhone’s large screen and interface are great for heavy web browsing and if you are visiting websites that have photos, they load much faster on a Wi-Fi network. Other phones have small screens which make web browsing difficult and unpleasant.
Go to the Admob metrics webpage and download the full report.
Tell us what you think about the increasing use of Wi-Fi among smartphone users? Will the trend continue even when the operators upgrade their cellular networks?
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Great insights, that align with my experience. Add to the reasons:
o Majority of internet access from mobile devices is from work or home, where there is Wi-Fi
o Increased availability of Wi-Fi; I found free & open signals at Peets Coffee and Staples (helped to research a product while looking at it in the store)
Note that one of the biggest criticisms of the Blackberry Storm is that it does not support Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi has become the Lingua Franca of the wireless world; it will be a sin to make a mobile device without Wi-Fi support in addition to the other network services.
I would never buy a mobile device that does not have WiFi. I don’t understand why Blackberry Storm doesn’t have it. Or it does but Verizon “castrated” the device?