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In 2016 there will be 2.1 billion HTML5 enabled browsers on mobile devices out in the market

Categories: Research
By: , IntoMobile
Monday, July 25th, 2011 at 4:43 AM
browser

Forget about the ballooning number of applications each mobile platform offers, and realize that for a lot of people, just having access to the internet on a device that fits in their pocket is absolutely mind blowing. Now browsers have been in phones for years, most notably the WebKit powered browser for Symbian devices that was launched towards the end of 2005 and was what many recognize to be the first real full HTML browser for phones. Apple changed the game two years later in 2007 with the iPhone, making a browser that was several orders of magnitude ahead of the competition at the time. Then Android of course in 2008, which ships with a browser that similar to Symbian and Apple was (and still is) powered by WebKit. In 2009 RIM would go so far as to buy a company that did HTML browsers just so they could catch up. The bean counters at ABI Research predict that by 2016 there will be a total of 2.1 billion devices on the market that not only have mobile web browsers, but browsers that are HTML5 enabled; up from 109 million in 2010.

“We expect HTML5 features in categories such as graphics, multimedia, user interactions, data storage, and others to be widely adopted sooner rather than later. A significant number of HTML5 features will be adopted in the mass market in the next three to five years. HTML5 adoption is going to accelerate because it will be a key differentiator in the smartphone OS war. I believe that Apple will be the key driver of HTML5 and consequently a primary benefactor as well.” — Mark Beccue, Senior Analyst

We’d like to point out that Microsoft, who traditionally has been the butt of every joke regarding web standards and anything internet related in general, is shaping up to be a huge supporter of HTML5. They have as much potential as anyone else to lead the pack in terms of capabilities, performance, and security … OK, the last one was a joke.

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

  • Anonymous

    Agreed. HTML is best for presentation and layout because you can re use it across platforms. Right now its pretty much works the same across webkit OSes (iPhone,android, Black Berry 6)

    But watch out for other platforms that don’t have similar implementation of HTML5.

    I tested my mobile website created via [link removed, if you're going to plug a site then please make sure you disclose that you founded it] which builds mostly for WebKit phones and it failed badly on WP7. Windows Phone 7.5′s implementation of HTML5 and WebKit’s (iPhone, Android & BlackBerry) work differently so don’t expect a code once and work everywhere results.
     
    A more realistic result would be code once, tweak some, run everywhere.