Smartphone penetration will reach 66% in 52 key countries next year, while tablet penetration is now stabilising at about 20%, according to Zenith’s Mobile Advertising 2017 Forecasts.
Zenith notes that the rapid expansion of smartphone ownership across the world is slowing down as penetration reaches 80-90% in the most advanced markets. The number of smartphone owners will increase by 7% year on year in 2018, compared to 10% in 2017, 14% in 2016 and 21% in 2015.
Western Europe and Asia Pacific continue to lead the world in smartphone ownership. Zenith predicts that five markets will have smartphone penetration above 90% in 2018 will be the Netherlands (94%), Taiwan (93%), Hong Kong (92%), Norway and Ireland (each at 91%). Eleven markets will have penetration levels between 80% and 90%, all of them in Western Europe and Asia Pacific with the exception of Israel, where penetration will be 86%.
The country with the highest number of smartphone users will be China, with 1.3 billion users, followed by India, with 530 million users. The US will be third, with 229 million users.
Zenith also says that tablet ownership is much less common than smartphone ownership, partly because they are more likely to be shared within households, and partly because consumers in some markets prefer to use larger smartphones instead. Tablets have not caught on at all in China, where Zenith estimates their penetration at just 4.8% this year, compared to 85.4% for smartphones. Tablet penetration is even declining in Thailand.
Tablet ownership varies widely across the 52 countries in Zenith’s eport; it exceeds 50% in 12 markets, and is lower than 10% in seven. It is most common in the
Netherlands (at 74% penetration this year), Australia (66%) and Ireland (65%).
Globally, Zenith estimates tablet penetration at 18.7% this year, up slightly from 17.8% in 2016. It appears to be stabilising at about 20%: Zenith forecasts penetration levels of 19.5% in 2018 and 20.1% in 2019.
Mobile devices will account for 73% of internet consumption in 2018 and 58% internet advertising expenditure will be mobile in 2018.
Jonathan Barnard, Zenith’s head of forecasting and director of global intelligence, said: “For most consumers and advertisers, the mobile internet is now the normal internet.
“The ownership of mobile devices is beginning to saturate in some markets, but there’s plenty of room for further growth across the rest of the world.”
Vittorio Bonori, Zenith’s global brand president, added: “Because the internet is now mobile, brands have the opportunity to use it to communicate to consumers during more of their lives – when they are shopping, socialising and travelling as well as when at their desk. By reaching consumers at the right occasions with tailored messages, brands can guide them through the consumer journey more effectively.”
