Development of Mobile Sector in Turkey, 2012-2013 Comparison

Information and Communication Technologies Authority compared mobile usage and advertising revenues according to the first quarter of 2012 and 2013. The comparison revealed interesting results.

As the use of smart phones increases, there is a natural increase in the mobile internet access of users. Compared to the first quarter of 2012, the number of 3G users increased by around 10 per cent in the same period this year. It is estimated that there are 2.7 million iPhone and 5 million Android smartphones and 750 thousand tablets in Turkey. The increasing use of smart devices with the diversity of smart devices and the decrease in their prices are among the main reasons for the increase in the number of 3G subscribers.

As the devices sold in the sector consist of smartphones, mobile internet usage will increase even more, and mobile compatibility of your website is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Instead of developing a native iPhone and/or Android application, you can make your website compatible with mobile devices and tablets so that your visitors can have a user-friendly experience on your website.

With the widespread use of smartphones, communication applications such as Whatsapp, Viber, Skype have also started to be used extensively. For example, with Viber, you can make voice calls with your friends and exchange messages. In cases where you have internet access on your smartphone, the need to send SMS is also eliminated, you can communicate with your friends free of charge and faster in writing with messaging applications.

As a natural consequence of this, SMS and MMS usage is gradually decreasing. In the same period last year, SMS usage decreased by 3.38 per cent, while MMS usage decreased by 12.59 per cent. It is not surprising that SMS usage is decreasing despite the intensive advertisements of telephone operators, and this decrease will continue to increase in the coming periods.

According to a survey conducted by ICTA, mobile internet usage increased by 75% to 24,233 TByte, compared to 13,822 TByte in the first quarter of 2012. The proportion of mobile internet users increased by 38% to 12,358,175 people, which can be considered as a significant increase.

As a country, our adaptation to new technologies and innovations is extremely fast, mobile internet users will surpass desktop internet users in the near future.