Mobile Sales to Exceed PC and Laptop Sales

Mobile technology to bloom by 2012

It was stated by Morgan Stanley internet analyst Mary Meeker in San Francisco at the Web 2.0 Summit this week, that by 2012, the sales of smartphones will exceed the PC and laptop sales, with more than 450 million units sold.

She also specified that mobile sales will reach 650 million units sold by 2013, adding that China will note a crucial mobile growth with 14.5 million 3G users, which makes about 2 percent of the population. This is a contrast with 37 million in the United States, but that population grew by 941 percent in the third quarter compared with one year ago.

In regards to landline connections, a boost has been noted in Internet video, with sites like Netflix and YouTube taking 21 and 10 percent of traffic during peak hours, respectively, reported analytics firm Sandvine

Meeker added that online advertising is “ripe for innovation.” 27 million Facebook users liked Zynga’s Texas Hold’em Poker game, and the same number of people tune in to "American Idol;" the cost per impression for Texas Hold’em Internet advertisers is $30 less than for "American Idol" ads on TV.

The analyst also said that China’s top social networking site, Tencent is the fourth-largest net company, and its revenues amount to $1.8 billion whereas the market capitalization is worth $41 billion. Tencent users create virtual identities that have brought $1.4 billion in virtual goods revenues in 2009.

Finally, Meeker expressed belief that social networking will incite the demand for smartphones. For example, in Japan, the major social networking site Mixi drew about 17 percent of its page views from mobile phone users, and interesting data is that 84 percent of page views in Q3 came from mobile phone users.