Since most tablets connect to the Internet with Wi-Fi, Adobe does consider tablets to be mobile devices.
Adobe Digital Index principal analyst, Tamara Gaffney, said the vast majority of users use their tablets from a stationary connection location.
“Our analytics, which tell us where users come from and what speed they are on, found 93 per cent of tablet visits are over Wi-Fi connections,” she said.
The result comes the way of the Adobe Digital Index: Best of the Best Benchmark for Asia Pacific, which also found 56 per cent of smartphones access the Internet via Wi-Fi.
“Faster connection speeds have made a difference in mobile browsing, with people defaulting onto Wi-Fi whenever it is available,” Gaffney said.
Smartphones strike back
Adobe’s research also looked into the share of traffic to A/NZ consumers websites from smartphones, finding it is not as high as in other countries and regions.
On average 11.5 per cent of all sites in A/NZ are accessed through smartphones, which is lower than South Korea at 15.6 per cent and US at 13.9 per cent.
“There seems to be something less attractive about mobile web sites for A/NZ users than in other countries,” Gaffney said.
While smartphones continue to remain a key method of accessing online content, tablet browsing is mostly flat and is starting to decline after initially experiencing sharp growth.
Gaffney said the reason for the decreased was the increase in smartphone screen sizes.
“People are not browsing as often on a tablet if they have a large screen smartphone,” she said.
Patrick Budmar covers consumer and enterprise technology breaking news for IDG Communications. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_budmar.