Strangeloop: Mobile Speed Tests Find Samsung Galaxy S3 Offers 9% Faster Performance Than iPhone 5

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Samsung Galaxy S3 loads pages 9% faster than the new iPhone 5, the median web page takes more than 11 seconds to load for both Android and iPhone, and LTE (Long Term Evolution) is faster than 3G -- but not by as much as industry experts have claimed. These were among the findings in a new report by Strangeloop Networks, “2012 State of Mobile Ecommerce Performance”, the first study to measure the mobile user experience over 3G and LTE networks.

“Mobile users who shop the full site spend up to 7.5 times more per visit than m.site visitors”

The report was based on tests conducted in July and September 2012 on six devices: the iPhone 4, iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone, iPad 2, and Samsung Galaxy tablet. The tests measured the page load times of 200 leading ecommerce sites, as ranked by Alexa.com.

Highlights of the key findings include:

iPad beat the Galaxy tablet on 3G performance, while the Galaxy S3 phone surpassed the iPhone 5 on LTE. Over 3G, pages loaded 22% faster on the iPad than on the Galaxy tablet. Over LTE, pages loaded 9% faster on the Galaxy S3 than on the iPhone 5.
The median home page took 11+ seconds to load on both iPhone and Android over 3G. At 11.8 seconds for the Galaxy S and 11.5 for iPhone, the median 3G load times for the two most popular mobile operating systems were 40% slower than the median desktop load time (7.1 seconds).
LTE was 27% faster than 3G, but fell short of industry claims. Some industry experts have stated that LTE networks are, on average, 10 times faster than 3G. The average load time for pages on 3G was 11.7 seconds, compared to 8.5 seconds for LTE -- a significant difference but not of the magnitude predicted by LTE proponents.

“These results tell us that, although LTE networks have improved mobile performance, pages are still far too slow,” said Strangeloop CEO Jonathan Bixby. “The latest mobile user surveys tell us that two out of three mobile shoppers expect sites to load in 4 seconds or less. A page that takes 8.5 seconds to load over LTE is still falling short of user expectations.”

Strangeloop’s study also found some serious usability issues with how site owners are serving pages to their mobile customers. For example, one-third of companies served a stripped-down “m.site” to the Galaxy tablet, despite the fact that tablet owners expect the same online experience on their tablets as they do on their desktops. And 32% of site owners do not give mobile shoppers the option to view the full site.

“Mobile users who shop the full site spend up to 7.5 times more per visit than m.site visitors,” says Bixby. “Preventing mobile shoppers from browsing your entire site is like putting a giant roadblock in your checkout line.”

In the United States, there are an estimated 115 million mobile users online in 2012, and that number is expected to grow to 176.3 million by 2015. By 2014, mobile internet usage is expected to overtake desktop. By 2015, Cisco estimates that there will be 788 million people worldwide who go online exclusively through their mobile devices.

Download a free copy of the 2012 State of Mobile Ecommerce Performance: http://www.strangeloopnetworks.com/state-of-mobile-ecommerce-performance

About Strangeloop

Strangeloop is the leader in providing next-generation front-end optimization (FEO) solutions. Companies like eBay/PayPal, Visa, and Petco rely on Strangeloop to speed up their websites and enterprise applications. As the earliest entrant in the FEO space, Strangeloop was the first company to market an automated solution – the Strangeloop Site Optimizer – with the ability to tackle front-end performance problems as a service via the cloud. The Strangeloop Mobile Optimizer is the only advanced optimization solution that addresses the unique challenges of delivering faster sites to mobile users. Strangeloop is based in Vancouver, BC. For more information, visit www.strangeloopnetworks.com