Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Mobile Internet Market Development
and expectation for the Internet on a mobile device.
Even the current mood of the user may affect user
experience. The situation where mobile Internet
use takes place is more influential than with PC
Internet use, which typically happens in a station-
ary context. In the case of the mobile Internet, we
should understand the physical, social and tem-
poral context, and how the mobile Internet use
relates to the overall goal that the user wants to
achieve.
Closest to the user is the mobile device with
many aspects affecting user experience: display
size, keyboard, memory space, processing power,
user interface style, and the general attractiveness
of the device. The Internet software on the device
may either be preinstalled on the device or the user
can install it afterwards, in the same way that (s)
he can install web browsers on PCs. The browser,
feed reader, e-mail client, and any Internet software
on the device have different levels of usability,
content support, and functionality, which influence
user experience. In addition, in order to connect
the various devices, and to the various services,
an infrastructure of connections and gateways is
needed (Roto, 2006).
At the other end of the mobile Internet system,
there are Internet services that the user wants to
access with the device. The value and usability
of the service in the mobile context affect user
experience, but less obvious aspects of user expe-
rience are trust and the way in which the service
provider can serve the user outside the Internet,
e.g. informing about available services and easing
access to them.
The mobile Internet has undergone huge devel-
opments in the early years of this millennium,
and the improvements in technology have led to
better user experience and higher market penetra-
tion. Whereas in 2001 less than 1% of Western
Europeans used the mobile Internet at least once a
month, by 2008 the user base had grown to 28%,
and is estimated to reach 40% by 2011 (Strategy
Analytics, 2008). The highest mobile Internet
penetration is in Japan, where more than 75% of
the population use a web browser on their mobile
device at least once a month (Strategy Analytics,
2008). According to Comscore (2007a), in January
2007 5.7 million people used a mobile device to
access the web in the UK alone, compared with the
30 million UK people who accessed the Internet
from a PC. It is noteworthy that people under 35
accounted for 67% of the overall users. Gender
is also an influencing factor, as 63% of mobile
Internet users in the UK are male, compared with
54% of PC Internet users (Comscore, 2007a).
Mobile Internet usage answers a variety of user
needs and usage situations. Internet sites accessed
via mobile terminals are most often related to news
(both “serious” and gossip-type news), real-time
messaging, searching, gaming, blogs and weather
information (Comscore 2007a; 2007b).
A study by Comscore (2007b) in Japan reveals
that despite the significant usage numbers, only
12.6% of the respondents stated that they were
very satisfied or satisfied with accessing the In-
ternet over a mobile device. This poses immense
design challenges for the developers of both mobile
terminals and mobile Internet sites.
WHY, WHERE AND HOW PEOPLE
USE THE MOBILE INTERNET
User Acceptance of the
Mobile Internet
Understanding current users and usages of the
mobile Internet is crucial for improving user ex-
perience for the future. In the following we will
give an overview of current knowledge about the
market, the users and usage contexts.
Kuo and Yen (2008) have studied user acceptance
of the mobile Internet in Taiwan. Their studies
showed that users with high personal innovative-
ness (willingness to adopt new technologies) per-
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