The number of consumers receiving smartphone and tablet devices for Christmas has caused a surge in mobile device traffic during January with users readily trying to these devices more to browse the internet, according to the latest mobile and m-commerce stats from Affiliate Window.
Nearly a fifth (19.63 per cent) of all network traffic came through mobile devices, up on December’s figure of 19.04 per cent and a 120 per cent increase in the share of traffic from January 2012.
iPhone traffic increased week on week over the past four week period, increasing from 30.25 per cent in week two to 31.94 per cent in week five. Android traffic fell from 20.89 per cent to 19.46 per cent between weeks two and four before recovering to a 20.04 per cent share of mobile traffic in week five. The iPad showed a relatively consistent share with between 41 per cent and 43 per cent of mobile traffic. Blackberry, however, held a minimal share of traffic peaking at 1.48 per cent in week two and hitting a low of 1.17 per cent in week four. The launch of Blackberry 10 did not take place until the end of the month. Other devices garnered a 5.5 per cent share of the traffic.
Despite overall traffic being higher in January, Affiliate Window recorded a drop in the share of sales. This was down 13.97 per cent (from 14.72 per cent) and is indicative of a drop in conversion rates, which is not surprising following the rise in conversion rates over Christmas period. The share of sales through mobile devices did, however, increase 116 per cent on January 2012.
The iPad dominates sales shares with 55 per cent and 58 per cent of sales over the four week period. The gap between the iPhone and Android devices has closed in, with Blackberry experiencing a decrease in the share week on week from 5.25 per cent in week two to 4.49 per cent in week five. Other devices also showed a week on week decrease from a high of 4.5 per cent to a low of 4.16 per cent.