Over the past three years, mobile phones have consistently accounted for over 60% of total web traffic, driven by faster mobile networks and a generation glued to their phones for everything, from news and shopping to entertainment.
However, for the first time in years, the tables have turned, with desktop traffic overtaking smartphone traffic.
According to data presented by Jemlit.com, desktop devices accounted for 49,7% of global web traffic in October, overtaking smartphones for the first time in five years.
According to StatCounter, the shift actually began in June, leading desktop devices to one of their highest web traffic shares in a decade.
Several factors could explain this trend.
Firstly, a growing share of global browsing now happens during work, pushing users toward desktops where they can open more tabs, multitask, and handle more complex content.
At the same time, more mobile activity happens inside apps instead of browsers, so the biggest part of the actual smartphone use is not counted in StatCounter data.
Combined with the rise in PC and laptop shipments triggered by the AI-powered productivity boom, this was just enough for desktops to reclaim the lead shortly.
According to StatCounter, desktop devices accounted for 49,7% of global web traffic in October, outpacing smartphones, which had a 48,98% share that month. This also marks a sharp rise from the 35,2% market share they had just five months before, in June.
The last time desktops overtook smartphones in web traffic share was in October 2020, but their market share was lower then, standing at 48,85%. In fact, the October figure is the highest since November 2018, when desktops generated 52,01% of global web traffic.
The StatCounter data also shows significant regional differences in desktop web browsing, with Americans by far leading the way. Statistics show that desktops accounted for 58,91% of total US web traffic in October, while smartphones accounted for only 39%.
The European market witnessed a similar trend but with slightly lower figures. Statistics show desktop devices generated 51% of web traffic in Europe that month, up from 46,88% that came from mobile phones.
Asia, a market long dominated by smartphones, told a completely different story, with desktops accounting for only 45,21% of web traffic, behind mobile’s 53,98% share.