Forrester Research estimates that today’s global online population of 1.5 billion users is on track to grow to 2.2 billion by 2013. In 2013, 17 percent of users will be located in mainland China. In the US, online penetration will increase annually 3 percent over the next five years, reaching 82 percent in 2013. Today the US has the largest number of internet users, but by 2013 China is expected to take the top position. In terms of nationwide percentage adoption, the US has lagged countries like Japan, Netherlands and South Korea, but in 2013 the US should be on par with most of the leaders in the rest of the world.
It’s interesting to note that while there are only 1.5 billion online users now, Firefox reported recently the one billionth download of their browser. That’s a lot of downloads or at least a lot of download updates — the equivalent of almost one download per global online user. But despite all the downloads, Firefox still trails Microsoft Internet Explorer in market share, 22% to 69%.
