Mega Internet Trends of 2015
Get ready to see what’s over the horizon. Each year, Mary Meeker at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (KPCB) synthesizes a mountain of data to give clarity to the major changes, forces and trends shaping the Internet. In her latest report, “Internet Trends 2015,” Meeker shares her latest insights on the evolution of the Internet and its impact on our lives.
Saving you from having to flip through the entire 196-page report, I’m highlighting some of the most critical trends for you below:
The Internet Population
According to the report, 2.8 billion people used the Internet last year, or 39% of the world’s population. This compares with merely 0.06% twenty years ago. This is great progress, but we still have a ways to go before everyone on the planet has access…
Mobile Explosion
The mobile population has simply exploded. Not surprisingly, compared to 1995, when only 1% of the world’s population had a mobile phone, today 73%, or 5.2 billion people around the world, use mobile phones. Expect this trend to only intensify. A full 87% of millennials in the U.S. say that their smartphone never leaves their side, night or day.
User Control of Content is Up Significantly
This ain’t your grandma’s media landscape. We’ve gone from the limited world of VCRs to endless content discovery options, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Instagram, satellite radio, streaming radio, etc.
Similarly, users are creating their own content, giving consumers endless choices.
Media Usage Is Eating Our Days
We each now spend 5.6 hours per day with digital media, with more of our time on mobile (51%) than on laptops and desktops.
Internet Advertising Is Still Growing
Although Internet advertising is still growing, mobile is where you can find the fastest growth (34%). With that said, as a percentage of the overall online ad market, mobile is still small (14%). Although the desktop dominates, growth is now slowing down.
Video Is Going Vertical
It used to be that video was made for larger screens. However, with ubiquitous broadband access video is going small screen in a big way. In fact, almost one-third of our video viewing is now on a small screen. And expect more vertical small screen video moving forward. Vertical video ads on Snapchat have a 9X higher completion rate than horizontal mobile video ads.
The Internet Is Transforming Everything About Everything
Every aspect of business is being transformed by the Internet. Whether messaging or offline payments, whether document signing or customer service, whether enterprise planning or background checks, new user-friendly solutions are taking over and pushing outdated, cumbersome processes out the door.
From Clicking to Sensing
Our world is moving from one of “clicking” to one of “sensing”…
Expect Rapid Growth in China & India Next
Most people in the US are of course already using the Internet. China is on its way, but it’s really India that will see the penetration curve swing radically upward now.
The Full Report
See the slides below for the entire Internet Trends 2015 report!
Photo Credit: Peter