LONDON – Each February, the GSM Association’s Mobile World Congress brings together device manufacturers, network operators, marketers and others working in the mobile realm worldwide for education and product updates. Among the most thought-provoking material to emerge every year is statistics about the state of the channel.

This year’s event, which attracted more than 85,000 delegates from more than 200 countries, proved no different, according to a spokesperson for adult mobile advertising network Adultmoda. The company shared some of the information it gleaned from seminars, workshops and the trade floor.

• More than 1.8 billion mobile phones were sold in 2013; of those, more than 1 billion were smartphones.
• By the end of 2013, 1.5 billion smartphones were in use worldwide.
• 3.4 billion people own some kind of mobile device, and another billion are expected to connect “within the next few years.”
• Five new mobile devices are connected every second.
• 40 percent of YouTube users arrive via a mobile device.
• Mobile transactions via PayPal exceeded $20 billion last year.
• One-fifth of global internet traffic is generated by mobile users.
• One-fifth of e-commerce is accomplished on a mobile device.
• Mobile transactions generate $182 billion in retail sales.
• Mobile transactions account for one-third of UK online sales.
• Mobile ad spend is expected to increase from $13 billion to $39 billion by 2018.

Adultmoda operates in more than 200 territories. According to the company’s spokesperson, Adultmoda served nearly 150 billion ads during 2013. Its mainstream sister company, Admoda, served more than 450 billion ads during the same period.