Smartphone users are generating two-thirds of total mobile cellular traffic worldwide despite the fact that only 13 percent of mobile subscribers use smartphones, according to the latest research from Informa Telecoms & Media. As these smartphone users spend more time on the Internet, the traffic that each one generates - their average traffic per user (ATPU) - will increase by 700 percent over the next five years, the research further points out.
Informa Telecoms estimates that ATPU per smartphone currently averages 85 MB per month. The iPhone is the highest-traffic-generating device followed by Android devices. It will retain this lead, Informa Telecoms believes, because Android devices will be spread across high-, mid- and low-user segments.
ATPU is a new metric devised by Informa Telecoms to help the mobile industry measure the potential of new services and revenue streams such as mobile advertising. ATPU could also be used by operators as a key differentiating parameter for judging the popularity of different OS platforms and related ecosystems.
Western Europe will also enjoy rapid growth and the smartphone ATPU in the region will increase almost 17 times to over 736 MB/month in 2015 from under 44 MB/month in 2009. The rapid growth in these regions will be driven by both the fast migration of subscribers to higher-speed mobile networks, the proliferation of flat rate data plans, and the availability of wide range of smartphones targeting different consumer groups with different lifestyles, which will enable users to consume content and services most relevant to them.
However, the highest smartphone ATPU will continue to come from South Korea and Japan with respective values of 271 MB/month and 199 MB/month expected in 2010, which is 2-3 times higher than the global average.
In contrast, smartphones remain a status symbol for the majority of users in emerging markets who still use cellular networks largely for voice and SMS rather than to access mobile data services. As a result, ATPU in these regions is not expected to exceed 43 MB/Month in 2010 and could be as low as 13 MB/month in some African countries. The low penetration of mobile broadband networks, the lack of compelling local content and the proliferation of prepaid subscribers are among the reasons why smartphone ATPU in emerging markets will lag behind this in developed regions.
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