Older Mobile Users Spur Data Traffic Growth in the US, says Strategy Analytics

— Data traffic grew by 119 percent in the 45+ segment between Q1 2014 and Q4 2014

PRNewswire/ — According to Strategy Analytics’ AppOptix Telemetry Intelligence Platform, the total data traffic (Wi-Fi and Cellular combined) doubled between Q1 2014 and Q4 2014; the bulk of the growth coming from an older demographic.

Data Traffic by Application Category: All Age Groups
Data Traffic by Application Category: All Age Groups
Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150311/181094
Logo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130207/NE56457LOGO-b

The analysis is based on over one million individual application sessions from 3000+ panel members in the US. The results are powered by Strategy Analytics’ state-of-the-art Telemetry Intelligence Platform by leveraging three core components – a best-in-class telemetry application, an opt-in panel, and big data analytics framework to support rich analysis.

Additional findings from the study include:

Between Q1 2014 and Q4 2014, social media use has emerged as the top category in three out of four age groups.
Data traffic through the browser remains consistent across all age groups – highlighting the universal appeal of browsing across all users.
Bonny Joy, Chief, Consumer Telemetry Platforms, said: “Over the past four quarters, there has been a significant shift in traffic priorities by application categories. The fact that social now accounts for the majority of the traffic for most users underscores the increasing reliance of social apps, such as Facebook, Tumblr, and Vine for rich media experience.”

Barry Gilbert, Vice President, said: “The rise in data traffic, especially among the older demographics, presents new opportunities for Operators and Device OEMs in offering differentiated services through content partnerships, data plans, and portfolio expansion to address the growing interest in content consumption.

The findings presented in this press release are part of AppOptix use case series. AppOptix use-cases illustrate important emerging trends and insights related to how consumers engage with their mobile devices. Through the combination of supply-side, demand-side, telemetry data, and deep domain expertise, these use-cases reflect a rigorous, defensible and insightful set of findings that market planners can use to address challenging problems facing their business.

Photo – http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150312/8521501568

Source: Strategy Analytics