by Russell Dickinson

From the moment tablets hit the market three years ago, it was generally taken for granted that they would become a favourite web browsing tool. However, few could have foreseen that slates would overtake smartphonesas website traffic drivers in such a short times, particularly in light of the fact that smartphone ownership levels greatly exceed those of tablets. Still, this is exactly what has happened and tablets now generate more web traffic than smartphones, CMSWire reports, citing the latest Adobe Digital Index.

The data was presented last week at the Adobe Summit held in Salt Lake City. For the purposes of its study, the US software company analysed over 100 billion visits to more than 1,000 websites worldwide. Adobe established that tablets accounted for 8% of global web traffic over the past 12 months, while smartphones were responsible for 7%. Desktop computers and laptops generated 84% of total web traffic.

According to the latest edition of the index, tablet users view 70% more pages every time they visit a website compared to smartphone-wielding surfers. This estimate lends support to the widespread assumption that smartphone owners tend to make quick, goal-driven website visits as opposed to the leisurely attitude of tablet users.

The analysis by country reveals UK Internet users as the most likely to engage in web surfing via tablets. Brits were responsible for 12.2% of mobile traffic generated over the past year, while US tablet owners accounted for 9.1%. Canada ranked at number three, with local tablet owners generating 8.7% of total mobile traffic.