More Than 27 Percent Of Emails Are Opened On Mobile Devices (Report)

Mobile internet growth isn’t just limited to the web. Consumers are also using mobile devices more frequently to read emails.

According to a new report from marketing agency Knotice, more than 27 percent of emails were opened on a mobile device during the second half of 2011.

That number is up from about 20 percent during the first half of 2011 — a 36 percent gain during the year.

Knotice reports that phones accounted for 20.6 percent of mobile email opens, and tablets made up the other 6.8 percent.

Perhaps not surprisingly, iOS devices make up the majority of that mobile email activity. Knotice says the iPhone and iPad combine to account for more than 22 percent of mobile email opens, compared to a little less than five percent for Android devices.

Together, iOS and Android represent just under 99 percent of all mobile email opens during the second half of 2011. The iPhone is the most used phone, with about 69 percent of all email opens happening on phones. The iPad is tops with about 97 percent of all email opens on tablets.

Knotice’s data are derived from about 974 million emails sent across 11 different industries. An “open” happens when an image in the email is downloaded, and Knotice’s report does mention that the above numbers may actually be lower than reality because some devices and operating systems don’t download images by default.

The report is available for download on Knotice’s website; no registration or personal information is required.