Citrix Releases Q1 2013 ByteMobile Analytics Report, Video Still Biggest Mobile Data User

Citrix recently published its ByteMobile Mobile Analytics Report for the first quarter of 2013, which aims to provide insight into subscriber behavior and other factors affecting the quality of experience for mobile data services.

Specifically, the report's findings examine subscriber behavior on a number of mobile apps, as well as the impact this use has on mobile networks.

The company also released its consumer survey findings, which compare consumer perspectives against actual behavior patterns.

"Combining the ByteMobile report with the consumer survey provides additional insight into subscribers’ views of their mobile experiences and the impact this behavior has on operators’ networks," said Chris Koopmans, vice president and general manager of Service Provider Platforms at Citrix, in a statement. "This real-world data is further validation that network providers need to improve their subscribers’ mobile experience in order to differentiate their services and better monetize an increasing volume of traffic."

In terms of health apps, personal fitness reigned supreme, accounting for 50 percent of the total mobile health-related data traffic on wireless networks. Interestingly, while 39 percent of subscribers use fitness apps, 47 percent use pregnancy-related apps, but pregnancy monitoring applications only generate 9 percent of total mobile health data traffic.

In terms of overall traffic, though, video continues to be the primary data hog, with 20 percent of subscribers watching mobile videos on a given day according to the ByteMobile report. Meanwhile, the consumer survey found that 74 percent of respondents seek out most videos they watch. While the majority of videos consumed on mobile devices, 92 percent, are low resolution (360p or less), 64 percent of consumer survey respondents said they thought they were viewing in high definition.

In October, Citrix published the ByteMobile Mobile Analytics Report for the fourth quarter of 2012, which found that media and Internet browsing accounts for the majority of mobile data usage, accounting for 70 percent of data volume on Android devices, and 75 percent on the iPhone.

Citrix acquired ByteMobile in July 2012.