“Mobile browsers are evolving along two paths,” stated senior analyst Mark Beccue. “On one hand, highly sophisticated browsers, which we are calling full internet browsers, will be found in all smartphones and a growing number of enhanced (or feature) phones. Such devices can host these browsers because they have advanced application processors, expanded memory capacity and adequate screen size and resolution.
“These full internet browsers typically require about 64 Mb of memory to run. A real key to the growth of full Internet browsers in higher end feature phones is the falling cost of sophisticated applications processors. But there is also a second path.”
He continued: “Parallel to this development, a new family of browsers has emerged; the proxy-based (or client-server or compression) browser, which is epitomised by the Opera Mini. These browsers move some caching and processing off the phone to a nearby server, allowing the browser to run on lower cost processors and requiring as little as 4Mb of memory. That means these browsers can be used on even the lowest cost phones.
The research indicates that the installed base of full Internet browsers will exceed that of proxy-based browsers sometime in 2012.
ABI Research’s ‘Mobile Browsers’ study identifies the drivers and barriers for the mobile browser market. It details how mobile browsers have evolved and how they are being positioned in terms of devices, markets and capabilities; it outlines the competitive landscape and breaks down the market strategies of key players; and finally, it provides detailed global and regional forecasts and forecast analysis by browser type and device type.