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Wireless
Internet access climbs 30% in 2004
Smartphones,
not laptops, are key drivers
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Gary Thayer, News Editor
New York,
March 18, 2005 -- (MobileVillage) -- The number of wireless
Internet users in 2004 grew by 29%, according to a new study
by research firm Ipsos-Insight titled "The Face of the
Web 2004."
The latest
findings are based on interviews in 12 key global markets
with 6,544 adults, including 3,304 active Internet users.
When extrapolated, the numbers indicate that an estimated
171 million people -- or 44% of Internet users in the measured
markets -- have accessed the Internet wirelessly.
Japan
and what Ipsos-Insight calls the "advancing markets"
saw the largest year-over-year growth among adults who used
the Internet via a wireless connection. However, the growth
was largely driven by the two biggest Internet markets, the
U.S. and Japan, fuelling 69% of user increase and adding an
estimated 15 million and 11.6 million new wireless Internet
users, respectively. Wireless Internet also gained some popularity
in Western Europe, South Korea, and urban China.
Contrary
to popular thinking, it isn't the growth in laptop and Wi-Fi
usage that is leading wireless Internet takeup. The number
of adults who used a laptop for connecting to the Internet
wirelessly was smaller compared to those who used a device
like a mobile phone.
In Japan,
for instance, where the prevalence of wireless Internet, laptop,
and mobile phones is highest, twice as many adults (59%) have
accessed the Internet through a mobile device such as a mobile
phone than have used a wireless laptop connection (28%). Similarly,
outside of North America, Germany, and urban Mexico, mobile
devices like mobile phones are propelling wireless Internet
use.
"The
Face of the Web 2004" study is available for purchase
from the Ipsos-Insight web site.
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