This post is the second in a series examining Mary Meeker’s annual Internet trends report.
As media companies adjust their strategies to compete in an increasingly digital world, one of the key factors they continue to adjust for is the growth of mobile and tablet users.
Within this massive mobile trend lies a collection of smaller sub-trends. Mary Meeker, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and leading expert on Internet trends, recently explored these ongoing storylines in her annual report on the state of the internet. What follows are a few trends she and her team are watching as the mobile movement continues.
Devices are still selling
KPCB’s research reveals that smartphones and tablets are still selling rapidly— 315 million new smartphones shipped worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2013, a new record, and nearly 80 million tablets went out during the first quarter of 2014. Mobile devices are flooding into previously under-penetrated markets like China, India, Brazil and Indonesia.
Apps generate revenue
There’s a common conception that mobile advertising is the best way to generate revenue in this domain. While ads are effective, they’re not number one — rather, revenues from selling apps still account for 68 percent of mobile monetization. Total mobile revenues have climbed steadily over the years, from just $2 billion in 2008 to $38 billion last year, and apps have consistently accounted for the lion’s share of that money.
Multimedia content more sharable
It’s easier now more than ever for consumers to share content with their contacts, and that extends well beyond simple text-based content. Image and video sharing is rapidly rising. KPCB found as of February 2014, Tumblr had 40 million unique visitors, Pinterest had more than 50 million and Instagram had almost 70 million. The continued growth of social platforms like these present new storytelling opportunities for media companies — and new ways for them to attract new audience members who might not have seen them otherwise. The popularity of these platforms means that multimedia content is more accessible to a wide-ranging audience. This is important for media companies because it opens up a variety of new channels for them to communicate with their audiences. Media outlets increasingly are posting content to platforms like Twitter and Instagram to help drive visitors and build an audience for their digital content.
Mobile apps are increasingly being unbundled for a single purpose. Users have access to a collection of applications that each carry out their own functions, such as photo editing or sharing videos. For media companies hoping to grow their audiences, creating appealing content that is easily shared is of more importance than ever. Given users’ willingness to do this with all types of content, this represents a golden opportunity.