Because mobile devices have come such a long way, people are relying on them more and their desktops less, which means they’re doing more on their devices. More meaning tasks like watching mobile videos.
In fact, a report from Bytemobile says that 69 percent of mobile traffic comes from mobile video. That’s over half of clocked total traffic. Bytemobile (News - Alert) also tracked a general increase in video traffic over the past year. Video accounted for 40 percent of the total when the same survey was taken in 2011.
The year-on-year jump reflects the fact that consuming mobile video viewing is far more bandwidth-intensive than other activities such as social networking. YouTube (News - Alert) was found to account for roughly 350 times as much traffic as Facebook, despite actual usage levels being similar for the two platforms.
"Our latest Mobile Analytics Report substantiates anecdotal evidence that demand for mobile content continues to grow. As devices continue to get smarter - with faster processors, more memory and bigger, sharper screens – content consumption, particularly video, continues to grow aggressively," said Chris Koopmans, chief operating officer, Bytemobile. "The report also demonstrates very clearly that carriers use optimization techniques to keep up with exploding traffic demands, while continuing to deliver a superior user experience.
Google (News - Alert) currently reaps the most benefits from mobile video viewing increase, taking a 75 percent global share of total-ad generated traffic. This is likely due to the fact that operating systems running on Google Android (News - Alert) produce more ad transactions than iPhones.
The report also shows that a majority of mobile video traffic generated by iOS devices comes from just three native iOS Apple (News - Alert) apps: Media Player, Safari and App Store/iTunes, at 47 percent, 21 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
Bytemobile said that the report anonymously sources data traffic statistics from the 3G and 4G networks of its global tier- one customer base and provides insight into the current state of the mobile ecosystem.
Edited by Stefanie Mosca