Mobile App Usage Spikes

Wired may have been a little quick to proclaim the death of the web, but it appears that the slow funeral march continues. As the mobile space continues to grow, it continues to eat away at the former web dominance - and the latest statistics show that.

According to information sourced from comScore, Alexa, and the U.S.  Bureau of Labor Statistics, mobile app usage is up while web usage is trending downwards. Mobile app usage increased an average of 33 minutes to 127 minutes in 2012 while web usage decreased an average of 2 minutes to 70 minutes in the same time frame.

Falling Behind

The shift in mobile app usage can be attributed the explosion of mobile apps in the marketplace. This onlys explain the growth in mobile app usage and not the decline in web usage. Why exactly is the web in freefall?

The answer is pretty simple - the web has fallen too far behind to catch up. The majority of websites is still not formatted for mobile use. Many websites simply won’t be able to function on mobile devices - especially those that heavily utilize Flash or other plug-ins that don’t play well with mobile devices. Websites that are ready for mobile viewing often have difficulty matching the level of functionality and ease of use that native mobile apps can provide.

The Device Challenge

Full desktop websites are typically accessed through desktop or laptop devices. They can also be viewed on mobile devices, albert with a more limited or frustrating experience. But the majority of desktop and laptop devices cannot run mobile apps designed for mobile devices.

As more users realize this limitation, mobile device usage increases - as does the use of mobile apps. At the same time, full website use decreases as the number of people using desktops or laptops as primary devices drops. The precipitate booms of mobile sites and applications have tech experts buzzing: Is the obsolescence of full websites an iota away?