Tablet, smartphone growth shifting web trends

As internet users continue to gravitate away from traditional computing devices and toward smartphones and tablet computers, mobile web usage is expected to skyrocket in the coming years.

According to research firm IDC, more internet users in the United States will access the web through their mobile devices than through wireline devices by 2015. Smartphones and tablets are selling at unprecedented rates. As a result, the number of US mobile internet users is expected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 16.6 percent between 2010 and 2015, IDC notes.

"Forget what we have taken for granted on how consumers use the internet," says IDC research vice president Karsten Weide. "Soon, more users will access the web using mobile devices than using PCs, and it's going to make the internet a very different place."

This shift toward mobile web is impacting a number of areas, IDC points out, including ecommerce spending and online advertising. According to the research firm, online media is expected to account for 17.8 percent of all advertising spending by 2015, up from 11.9 percent in 2010.

A report from research firm Gartner found tablet growth is also affecting traditional PC sales. According to Gartner, PC sales are expected to grow only 3.8 percent in 2011, as more consumers are inclined to move toward tablets.