It’s finally happening, mobiles are overtaking desktop devices. For the first time, internet usage on mobile and tablet devices exceeded the internet usage on desktops worldwide.
According to the October 2016 data by StatCounter, around 51.3 percent of internet usage worldwide where from mobile and tablet devices. Whereas internet usage on desktop accounted for only 48.7 percent. Splitting the data further mobile devices accounted for 46.5 percent of web traffic, whereas tablets have a small share of 4.7 percent.
![Mobile Internet Usage Overtook Desktop for first time [Report]](http://www.datareign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/mobile-internet-usage-exceeds-desktop.jpg)
“This should be a wake-up call especially for small businesses, sole traders and professionals to make sure that their websites are mobile friendly,” said Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter.
It should be noted that in 2010, internet usage on mobile devices was less than 5 percent. Thanks to Apple iPhones and Google android operating system for the massive mobile penetration.
In India, we have a completely different story, internet usage on mobile devices overtook desktop way back in August 2012 itself. Currently (October 2016 stats) internet usage on mobile devices stands at a massive 78.05 percent. Whereas on desktop web usage is depreciating at 21.18 percent. This stats when compared to US and UK, where desktop still continues to be the primary mode of internet usage.
In India, telecom operators are pushing the mobile adoption, thanks to their affordable data plans. For example, the free unlimited 4G data benefits from the new entrant in India telecom space Reliance Jio. In addition, a slew of affordable 4G and 3G smartphones from Indian and Chinese mobile vendors have made mobile devices as the primary mode to access the internet.