The US mobile web population will be up almost 25% this year as 97.3 million mobile owners log on to the internet from their device at least monthly, eMarketer estimates.

By 2015, more than three in five mobile users and almost half the total US population will be using the mobile internet, eMarketer forecasts.

“The rapidly expanding smartphone and mobile internet user populations raise the stakes for marketers and make the mobile web more of an imperative than ever,” said Noah Elkin, eMarketer principal analyst for mobile.



eMarketer’s estimates of mobile internet usage include people of any age who access the internet from a mobile browser or installed application at least once per month.

Most of the growth in mobile internet usage will come from increased smartphone penetration, which will reach 38% of mobile users and 28.8% of the overall population by the end of this year. The number of smartphone users is set to increase 49.6% this year and continue growing at a steady double-digit pace through 2015, when nearly 150 million US consumers will have such a device.



eMarketer’s estimates of mobile internet usage include people of any age who access the internet from a mobile browser or installed application at least once per month.

Most of the growth in mobile internet usage will come from increased smartphone penetration, which will reach 38% of mobile users and 28.8% of the overall population by the end of this year. The number of smartphone users is set to increase 49.6% this year and continue growing at a steady double-digit pace through 2015, when nearly 150 million US consumers will have such a device.