Technology Trends | Research

Mobile To Surpass Wired Internet Connections

• By David Nagel
• 09/12/11

Forty percent of the world's population will have access to the Internet by 2015, according to a new forecast released this week by market research firm IDC. But the way they access it is shifting drastically, particularly in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, as media tablets and smart phones begin to take the place of the traditional PC.

In fact, in the United States, more people will access the Internet through their mobile devices than through wired connections by 2015, IDC reported.

IDC researchers said smart phones and media tablets are driving these huge increases in wireless Internet connections and predicted a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of mobile Internet users of 16.6 percent from 2010 to 2015

The forecast, part of IDC's Worldwide New Media Market Model, also predicted that the "impact of smartphone and, especially, media tablet adoption will be so great that the number of users accessing the Internet through PCs [in the United States] will first stagnate and then slowly decline." The report also said Western Europe and Japan would follow closely behind the United States in this trend.

"Forget what we have taken for granted on how consumers use the Internet," said IDC Research Vice President Karsten Weide in a statement released Monday. "Soon, more users will access the Web using mobile devices than using PCs, and it's going to make the Internet a very different place."

IDC's Worldwide New Media Market Model tracks consumer Internet trends and user data across 40 countries. Additional details about the Worldwide New Media Market Model can be found on IDC's site.