The local market for mobile advertisements is anticipated to top the 1-trillion won ($928 million) mark in 2015, a report showed Monday, as people spend more time on smartphones compared to traditional PCs.

South Korea’s market for mobile advertisements is estimated to rise 27 percent on-year to reach 1.06 trillion won this year, according to the report released by market researcher DMC Media.

The market expanded 74.1 percent on-year to reach 832.9 billion won in 2014.

The researcher said the growth is attributable to the rising number of smartphone users, while people are spending less time using computers.

“Mobile messengers’ earnings will also improve, as they will roll out various payment-related services other than mobile games, which have been considered as traditional cash cows,” DMC Media said. “Other global messenger providers will also expand their revenue from advertisements on the back of their mobile platforms.”

The market for online commerce will grow 14.3 percent on-year in 2015, due mainly to the rising number of purchases made through mobile devices, the researcher said, adding the mobile sector already takes up a third of the combined revenue from online shopping. (Yonhap)