Facebook's usage on mobile only — phones and tablets — has shot up from 24 percent from June to 126 million at the end of September.
The news says a lot about how we're using the social network — on the go but also from our couches while watching TV or just lounging. But it also bodes well for Facebook, whose mobile component has been considered a weakness in terms of drawing advertisers.
"People who use our mobile products are more engaged, and we believe we can increase engagement even further as we continue to introduce new products and improve our platform," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a third-quarter earnings conference call Wednesday. "We're actually much better positioned on mobile than we were on desktop," he said.
The mobile usage stats were released by Facebook in its 10-Q filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
At the end of June, Facebook said, it had 102 mobile-only users. Those who use both mobile, as well as traditional PCs, for Facebook increased 61 percent, from 376 million worldwide at the end of September 2011, to 604 million as of Sept. 30 this year. Facebook, which has slightly more than 1 billion users total, said in its filing:
In all regions, an increasing number of our MAUs (monthly average users) are accessing Facebook through mobile devices, with users in India, Brazil and the United States representing key sources of mobile growth over this period.
Mobile growth will ultimately exceed that of use on personal computers, the company said:
While most of our mobile users also access Facebook through personal computers, we anticipate that the rate of growth in mobile usage will exceed the growth in usage through personal computers for the foreseeable future and that the usage through personal computers may be flat or continue to decline in certain markets, including key developed markets such as the United States, in part due to our focus on developing mobile products to encourage mobile usage of Facebook.
Where do you do most of your Facebook surfing? From home, and if so, from your phone, tablet or PC? Or pretty much on the go? Let us know in your comments here.
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