by Felix Richter, Statista.com
On Wednesday afternoon, Facebook reported its results for the first quarter of 2013. The social network, that had struggled to monetize its user base in the past, posted $1.46 billion in revenue, a 38 percent increase over last year’s March quarter. Facebook’s net income grew 7 percent to reach $219 million, as the company continues to invest heavily in new products and services.
What Facebook’s results showed clearer than ever, is the fact that mobile monetization is crucial to the company’s future revenue and profit growth. Less than a year after the introduction of mobile advertising solutions, mobile ads already account for 30 percent of the company’s total ad revenue. Looking at Facebook’s user base makes the need for mobile ads even more evident. More than two thirds of its 1.1 billion users regularly access the social network on smartphones or tablets and almost a fifth of Facebook’s active users do so exclusively.
Facebook was definitely late to the mobile advertising party, but considering the latest results, the company’s shareholders will probably think: “better late than ever”.
Today’s chart illustrates Facebook’s user growth, both overall and mobile.
Click on graph fpr larger image.
