Since 2008 people have been talking about mobile and what it would do for the technology industry. Only last year have we been the witnesses of what we could call the “mobile revolution“. In 2012 the entire concept is so well ingrained into our daily routine, that we no longer view it as exterior to our perception.

Mobile is an impressive new environment, with endless possibilities, a sphere that can engender great relationship between users and companies, projects, teams, etc. There is fantastic potential for development on every level and an endless array of applications to be created to cover all types of needs.

But let’s go over some important figures, since they seem to catch the eye the most and can really give us an idea of how mobile is changing life around us:

• there are currently more than 6 million mobile subscribers, equating to more than 87% of the world population
• China and India are leaders in the growth of this sector, which account for 30% of the world’s subscriptions
• Samsung is the leading smartphone hardware vendor
• Android is the top operating system, powering more than 250 million devices
• Android is growing by 700,000 subscribers that choose a smartphone with this operating system each day
• there are now more than 1.2 billion mobile users worldwide
• mobile devices account for 8.49% of global website visits
• in the US, 25% of internet users are mobile only – soon we will see entire generations that have never used a desktop or a laptop, or who rarely do so, and whose primary means of interaction with the internet is a mobile device, be it smartphone or tablet
• 8 trillion text messages were sent in 2011

• Google accumulates $2.5 billion in annual revenue from mobile advertising
• Mobile ad spending climbed from $3.3 billion in 2011 and is predicted to rise up to $20.6 billion in 2015
• Paypal expects to see $7 billion in mobile payment volume in 2012
• Japanese consumers exploit the most their mobile terminals, using web, apps, email and more
• US and European users play and send more text messages
• News, weather, social networking, search and maps are the most used features/apps
• US consumers prefer mobile browsers for banking, travel, shopping, local info, news, video, sports and blogs
• mobile searches have increased 4 times in the last years
• for many items, 1 in 7 searches is not made from a mobile device
• over 300,000 apps have been developed in the past 3 years
• apps have been downloaded 10.9 billion times.

*Data source: infographic that can be found here.

With these impressive figures, it is clear more than ever that this environment is changing not just the way we access the internet, but the way we behave, the way we search for information and the way we interact with each other and with brand.

How can you and your business benefit from the mobile environment?

It’s simple: stay ahead of the curve by creating a mobile version for your website, so you can get more traffic or a mobile app to reward your most loyal consumers. The possibilities are endless.