eMarketer: Mobile email usage surpasses PC usage

Checking email is the top activity among smartphone and tablet users

Consumer activity on mobile devices is increasing, with checking email being cited as the most popular mobile activity.

Data from Return Path in December 2013 highlights this trend: During the past holiday season, more than half of emails worldwide were opened on mobile devices, while desktop and webmail each accounted for only about a quarter.

Christmas is one of the days with the lowest email open rates, which Return Path points out may be due to the fact that fewer business emails are sent at that time. Although the overall time spent on email is lower on December 25, the share of emails opened on mobile devices on that day showed a 62% surge. As one of the mobile activities, does email interrupt the "family time" during the holidays?

Deloitte's July 2013 results highlight the popularity of email on mobile devices. Among tablet users, half of respondents said their top activity on mobile devices is checking work or personal email. This is even more prevalent on smartphones: three-quarters of smartphone users said they check work or personal email on their phones, again pushing this activity to No. 1.

Mobile email has brought huge returns to US marketers. According to Yesmail's analysis in the third quarter of 2013, the revenue per click of mobile marketing emails far exceeded that of tablets, $7.14 vs. $3.62.