We forecast that 91.2% of Facebook users will access the platform on a smartphone in 2019, amounting to 156 million users. The number of users who will access exclusively on mobile devices (including tablets) will reach 113.7 million in 2019.
Time spent on social networks with mobile devices far outpaces computers. US Facebook users ages 18 and older will spend an average of 18.07 minutes per day on mobile devices (including tablets) in 2019, compared with 5.31 minutes on desktop/laptops.
The average time spent on Facebook for all devices (23.37 minutes) amounts to 44.8% of time spent on all social media. While this is a huge share, its referral rate is almost double that, indicating that there are other factors that make Facebook a powerful driver to ecommerce sites beyond having the highest usage rates.
As social commerce takes off, social networks could become the point of purchase, rather than a driver of referrals. Social networks at the forefront of social commerce, particularly Instagram, could play a larger role in driving ecommerce purchases. But those purchases have to be made on smartphones.