Twitter heat map shows iPhone use by the affluent, Android by the poor

Posted:
in iPhone edited August 2014
A map plotting the location and device platform of over a quarter billion mobile tweets show predominate use of iPhones in affluent areas and Android in poor regions, with scant representation of Blackberry outside of major cities and its strongholds in Africa, Central America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Twitter iPhone - Android map
Source: MapBox


The interactively explorable globe by MapBox, tweeted by Benedict Evans, pairs data from GNIP and Twitter to light up the world one tweet at a time.

The resulting image of North and Central America depicts the wealthier, urban of United States and Canada (above) as lit up in iPhone red, while in some rural areas and south of the border, there's more Android green and Blackberry purple.

The same pattern emerges in Europe (below), where in the U.K., Scandinavia and most of Central and Western Europe are predominately red, while Spain is mostly green. Blackberry seems to continue to enjoy a greater representation in European capitals than it has retained in the U.S.

Twitter iPhone - Android map
Source: MapBox


In Asia, the pattern repeats again (below), with Japan and Hong Kong dominated by red, along with major cities including Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei. The remains of Samsung's South Korea and HTC's Taiwan are dominated by green.

Twitter iPhone - Android map
Source: MapBox


In closer detail, the same applies to the San Francisco Bay Area (below), where more affluent neighborhoods in Marin and Berkeley and from Silicon Valley to San Francisco appear in bright red while green dominates in poorer neighborhoods: West Oakland, East Palo Alto, Hunter's Point, Richmond and Vallejo. And again, Blackberry is represented in a bright purple spot centered in San Francisco's Financial District.

Twitter iPhone - Android map
Source: MapBox


Apple continues to gain in the enterprise at Blackberry's expense, and is widely expected to announce a new foray into lower priced handsets to target markets that have, so far, been served almost exclusively by Android's lower end offerings.

Apple targets the middle tier of smartphones

The company has already sought to expand its customer base by partnering with smaller, U.S. prepaid carriers who cater to users on a budget, an effort that only began last summer.

JP Morgan


Apple has also shown itself willing to earn lower profits to expand its customer base with last fall's iPad mini, aggressively priced at just 50 more than bargain bin devices like Google's Nexus 7 and Microsoft's Surface RT, which major education markets have rejected despite its new fire sale pricing.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 81


    Creepy CrApple store opening in Sweden.


    Fortunately, the Swedes are independent thinkers and don't easily fall for the Amerikkkan hype.


     


    image

  • Reply 2 of 81
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    I can see this thread going downhill real fast.

    Waiting for Apple][ to contribute... :/
  • Reply 3 of 81
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post



    I can see this thread going downhill real fast.



    Waiting for Apple][ to contribute... :/


     


    Won't be but a matter of hours before "Zombie Steve" gets booted.

  • Reply 4 of 81


    Best comment:


    "It's not about hating? Apple, it's the fact that people choose to make part of their identity a soulless corporate brand which tells them what to buy and they do it with glee & not a shred of self awareness. They do free work for this company who they believe loves and respects them because it sells them well-designed objects that makes them feel like they are people of refined taste and people who are on top of current technological trends. It would be funny if it wasn't so disgusting to watch."


     


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Zombie Steve View Post


    Creepy CrApple store opening in Sweden.


    Fortunately, the Swedes are independent thinkers and don't easily fall for the Amerikkkan hype.


     


    image


  • Reply 5 of 81

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


     


    Won't be but a matter of hours before "Zombie Steve" gets booted.



     


    I know... sheep don't like the free speech.

  • Reply 6 of 81
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Apple users have always been "upper crust"
  • Reply 7 of 81
    Dan_DilgerDan_Dilger Posts: 1,583member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Zombie Steve View Post


    Creepy CrApple store opening in Sweden.


    Fortunately, the Swedes are independent thinkers and don't easily fall for the Amerikkkan hype.



     


    Sweden is a) pretty far up north in the cold, so not exactly the most emotive but b) all that fascist clapping probably spooked them out as well.


     


    It's actually pretty incredible that, despite the iPhone's high import price, it's selling very well in the homeland of Ericsson in the shadow of Nokia.


     


    But more importantly, what sends you panicking to your propaganda bin to post something that has nothing to do with the article you're commenting on? It just makes you look like a desperate shill trying to spin the conversation into the negative. Is it embitterment about Apple's success, or fear that you are threatened into becoming irrelevant? 

  • Reply 8 of 81
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Yep.,. Trolls like Zombie-boy just can't handle reality, so he'll just try changing the subject.
  • Reply 9 of 81
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    That's right, folks. Kenny had an iPhone.

    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/27171/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

    That would explain the large shipping numbers, low web usage, and general ignorance we've witnessed from certain individuals here.

    Well, I guess everybody here owes Apple ][ a standing ovation for his insight.

    Like what he says, loathe what he says: he appears to have been right.

    On the bright side, it will make wealth creation easier. Want to be rich? Get your ass to the nearest Apple store. BAM! Instant social upgrade.

    This is the funniest discovery ever.
  • Reply 10 of 81
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    hmurchison wrote: »
    Apple users have always been "upper crust"

    So you see nothing wrong with the posts up above, H?
  • Reply 11 of 81

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post





    So you see nothing wrong with the posts up above, H?


     


    Hello Tally!


     


    I see they unblocked you!


     


    Well, it won't be long until you are blocked again, and then it will be for good! ^^

  • Reply 12 of 81


    Creepy CrApple store opening in Sweden.


    Fortunately, the Swedes are independent thinkers and don't easily fall for the Amerikkkan hype.


     


    image

  • Reply 13 of 81
    iobserveiobserve Posts: 96member


    Breaking news: map shows wealthy people buy more valuable things.

  • Reply 14 of 81
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    <h2>Apple targets the middle tier of smartphones</h2><img src="http://photos.appleinsidercdn.com/jpmorgan-130503-1.jpg" alt="JP Morgan">

    Or maybe since Apple already makes all the money at the top there, they're fine with that.
  • Reply 15 of 81
    jason98jason98 Posts: 768member


    Well when it come to the US, I see pretty much the same places are highlighted for both Android and iPhone, you just need to turn on one category at a time.

  • Reply 16 of 81
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    iobserve wrote: »
    Breaking news: map shows better people buy better things.

    Fixed that for you.

    ;)
  • Reply 17 of 81
    This thread doesn't get started until Apple ][ posts. :)
  • Reply 18 of 81
    "So much for the theory that larger screens = premium."
  • Reply 19 of 81
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member


    This is a fairly useless article.  None of the pictures have the resolution necessary to tell us anything.  You should have focussed on one or two areas and turned the various types of phones on and off so we could see the distribution.  The red of the iPhone completely overwhelms everything else visually.  


     


    Also, whomever had the idea to have the black background should be taken out and shot, it makes it much harder to see what's going on that a plain white background would (I suppose someone thought it looked "cool" like city lights at night or some such nonsense).  Literally the only picture where you can tell anything about non-iPhones is the one that shows Indonesia which is hardly surprising.  


     


    The chart at the end is also not sourced, not explained and bears a striking resemblance to a chart that has been used in a few articles that shows iPhone/iPad price distribution but instead is labelled "smartphone distribution."  I don't trust it.  I don't trust the author, I don't think the data is presented even close to any way that we could make any accurate conclusions, and all it really says anyway is "rich people buy more expensive products."  

  • Reply 20 of 81
    poochpooch Posts: 768member
    hmurchison wrote: »
    Apple users have always been "upper crust"

    yes, top drawer.
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