Does "large screen" penetration explain mobile data usage?
tefficient's per-SIM usage analysis states three drivers behind high mobile data usage:
- Effective price per Mbyte (strongest driver)
- Data-only SIM penetration (strong driver)
- Smartphone penetration (weak driver)
Let's examine number 2 a bit further: It an industry belief that the bigger a screen is, the higher the data usage becomes. A country with a high penetration of data-only SIMs, sitting in large screen PC and tablets (rather than small screen smartphones), should thereby get a higher mobile data usage.
The graph below shows that this also tends to be the case:
But there are a few exceptions, most importantly Japan with only 2,5% of SIM base in data-only, yet with the world's third highest mobile data usage. Here, the mobile traffic primarily originates from smartphones. (Even though no data-only penetration figure is available for world No 4 Korea, we can assume that Korea would also be in this smartphone-centric corner).
Also Sweden forms an exception. 15% is high, but countries like Austria and Australia have yet higher data-only penetration with less than half the average usage per SIM. (Even though no data-only penetration figure is available for world No 1 Finland, we can assume that Finland would be close to Sweden).
As tethering should have blurred the separation between large screen and small screen usage, it's surprising to see that the strong correlation between data-only penetration and usage - even if there are exceptions - still seems to exist.
One current market trend is that operators embrace tablets now that new smartphones prove to not have that much appeal any longer. It's worthwhile considering the graph above while refining the business models behind tablets.
Note. Of the studied markets, data-only subscription numbers are not reported for Finland, Korea and Germany.