This IDC study is derived from IDC's Worldwide Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast (DMMF), a database, updated semiannually, that provides global comprehensive data on online ad spending and Internet access devices, users, and buyers, as well as consumer and commercial ecommerce for 2008 (actual) through 2013 (forecast). IDC's DMMF is a full-featured database product covering six regions and 40 countries. This document updates the forecast for Internet usage and commerce on a global basis.

"The rate of Internet innovation remains breakneck. What was once considered disruptive is now commonplace as consumers, users, buyers, sellers, and everyone in between use the Internet on a daily basis," according to Carol M. Glasheen, IDC's VP of Quantitative Research. "This is best seen by the growth in worldwide Internet users, which will reach more than 2 billion, or one-third of the world's population in 2013."