Internet trends
There is an interesting annual ritual, which helps to understand, where the chaotic Internet industry is headed to. Every year, Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, puts together an eagerly awaited report on Internet trends, drawing data from various sources. She is an old industry hand with the perspective to make the data sing.
The 2012 report, which she presented last week, emphasises the fact that the growth drivers of Internet have shifted to developing countries, led by China and increasingly, India.
In 2011, the world had 2.3 billion Internet users, who grew at a year-on-year (Y-O-Y) rate of 8%. Except for the USA, it is the developing countries, which are adding the most number of new Internet users.
China added 215 million at 12% growth taking its total to 513 million users. India added just 69 million users, but grew 3 times faster than China at 38%. In 2011, India had 121 million users. Growth was impressive in Iran and Nigeria as well, highlighting the spiralling and global nature of this communication tool.
While Internet sustains its robust growth, the future is mobile. Out of the 6.1 billion mobile subscribers in the world, 1.1 billion are on 3G, showing there is a large room for growth. USA, Japan and China are the top 3 countries in 3G adoption.
USA has 208 million and Japan has 122 million 3G subscribers. 3G grew at 115% Y-O-Y in China to reach 57 million users, but penetrating just 6% of its population. India is where the 3G story is unfolding. The number of 3G users grew by 841%. But only 39 million users, just 4% of total mobile subscribers, are on 3G.
But with the price war extending to 3G, the leap forward moment is approaching. 3G is also a proxy for the growth of mobile Internet, which in December 2009, was just 1% of total Internet. In May 2012, Global Mobile Traffic had grown to 10% of internet.
India has already crossed the tipping point; in May 2012 Mobile Internet Usage overtook Desktop Internet Usage in India. India shows the way for developing countries to embrace Internet without relying on expensive PCs.
The explosion of mobile devices is further pushing mobile internet. Less than 2% of Americans owned a tablet or reader in April 2009; by January 2012 their number had increased to 29%. But revenue from mobile Internet is lower when compared to desktop internet. The mobile revenue bottleneck is similar to the early days of desktop Internet, but is expected to resolve in the coming years.
Meeker also takes note of the dramatic impact Internet has had in various walks of life: photography, news, books, music, retail, video, TV, communication, cars, yellow pages, cash registers, manufacturing, collaboration, personal finance, hiring, signatures, learning, governance, pet care and so on. 'We are still in spring training, the magnitude of upcoming change will be stunning,' she says.
There is an interesting annual ritual, which helps to understand, where the chaotic Internet industry is headed to. Every year, Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, puts together an eagerly awaited report on Internet trends, drawing data from various sources. She is an old industry hand with the perspective to make the data sing.
The 2012 report, which she presented last week, emphasises the fact that the growth drivers of Internet have shifted to developing countries, led by China and increasingly, India.
In 2011, the world had 2.3 billion Internet users, who grew at a year-on-year (Y-O-Y) rate of 8%. Except for the USA, it is the developing countries, which are adding the most number of new Internet users.
China added 215 million at 12% growth taking its total to 513 million users. India added just 69 million users, but grew 3 times faster than China at 38%. In 2011, India had 121 million users. Growth was impressive in Iran and Nigeria as well, highlighting the spiralling and global nature of this communication tool.
While Internet sustains its robust growth, the future is mobile. Out of the 6.1 billion mobile subscribers in the world, 1.1 billion are on 3G, showing there is a large room for growth. USA, Japan and China are the top 3 countries in 3G adoption.
USA has 208 million and Japan has 122 million 3G subscribers. 3G grew at 115% Y-O-Y in China to reach 57 million users, but penetrating just 6% of its population. India is where the 3G story is unfolding. The number of 3G users grew by 841%. But only 39 million users, just 4% of total mobile subscribers, are on 3G.
But with the price war extending to 3G, the leap forward moment is approaching. 3G is also a proxy for the growth of mobile Internet, which in December 2009, was just 1% of total Internet. In May 2012, Global Mobile Traffic had grown to 10% of internet.
India has already crossed the tipping point; in May 2012 Mobile Internet Usage overtook Desktop Internet Usage in India. India shows the way for developing countries to embrace Internet without relying on expensive PCs.
The explosion of mobile devices is further pushing mobile internet. Less than 2% of Americans owned a tablet or reader in April 2009; by January 2012 their number had increased to 29%. But revenue from mobile Internet is lower when compared to desktop internet. The mobile revenue bottleneck is similar to the early days of desktop Internet, but is expected to resolve in the coming years.
Meeker also takes note of the dramatic impact Internet has had in various walks of life: photography, news, books, music, retail, video, TV, communication, cars, yellow pages, cash registers, manufacturing, collaboration, personal finance, hiring, signatures, learning, governance, pet care and so on. 'We are still in spring training, the magnitude of upcoming change will be stunning,' she says.