iPod touch use outpaces iPhone, could foster Apple loyalty - report
A new study of mobile device usage has found that the iPod touch is gaining in share, and suggests that the media player could eventually transition youth to the iPhone.
Mobile analysis firm Flurry this week released its latest Smartphone Industry Pulse report for November 2009. From June to November, the number of mobile device "sessions" by users grew from under 150 million to nearly 400 million. In that same frame, the share of usage for the iPod touch grew from 31 percent to 35 percent, as the iPhone shrunk from 57 percent to 50 percent.
Overall sessions for the iPhone grew from June to November, but its total share of the market decreased, when compared to both the iPod touch and Android -- which also grew 4 percent.
Flurry has interpreted the findings to mean that the iPod touch is "quietly building a loyal base among the next generation of iPhone users." It estimates that just over 40 percent of the 58 million iPhone OS devices sold worldwide through September 2009 are the iPod touch.
"When today's young iPod Touch users age by five years, they will already have iTunes accounts, saved personal contacts to their iPod Touch devices, purchased hundreds of apps and songs, and mastered the iPhone OS user interface," the report said. "This translates into loyalty and switching costs, allowing Apple to seamlessly "graduate" young users from the iPod Touch to the iPhone. For OEMs hoping to challenge Apple, we believe an even greater sense of urgency must be adopted."
The study relied on a sample size of over 3,000 applications used by 45 million consumers over four platforms: the iPhone OS (which includes the iPod touch), Google Android, BlackBerry and Java ME. More than 15 million "end user sessions" are tracked by programs that have the Flurry analytics software included.
Flurry's evidence that the iPod touch is used by teens and youth who are not yet in a position to own the iPhone is bolstered by the growth of the media player as a device for social networking and games. Since June, the share of sessions for the iPod touch for social media has grown by 2 percent, to 42 percent, and its share of game usage has grown by 6 percent, to 49 percent. In both of those categories, the iPod touch outpaced the iPhone and Android.
"Together, Social Networking and Games category usage reflects the strength of the iPod Touch Generation's influence among its peers," the report said. "As this segment increasingly migrates its social habits to smartphones, Flurry data shows that the iPod Touch is the largest beneficiary."
The iPod touch has been seen as a small but stealthy asset in Apple's product lineup. As overall sales of iPods shrink, the iPod touch has grown. In September, Apple released a new 64GB iPod touch with a faster processor boosting performance up to 50 percent.
Mobile analysis firm Flurry this week released its latest Smartphone Industry Pulse report for November 2009. From June to November, the number of mobile device "sessions" by users grew from under 150 million to nearly 400 million. In that same frame, the share of usage for the iPod touch grew from 31 percent to 35 percent, as the iPhone shrunk from 57 percent to 50 percent.
Overall sessions for the iPhone grew from June to November, but its total share of the market decreased, when compared to both the iPod touch and Android -- which also grew 4 percent.
Flurry has interpreted the findings to mean that the iPod touch is "quietly building a loyal base among the next generation of iPhone users." It estimates that just over 40 percent of the 58 million iPhone OS devices sold worldwide through September 2009 are the iPod touch.
"When today's young iPod Touch users age by five years, they will already have iTunes accounts, saved personal contacts to their iPod Touch devices, purchased hundreds of apps and songs, and mastered the iPhone OS user interface," the report said. "This translates into loyalty and switching costs, allowing Apple to seamlessly "graduate" young users from the iPod Touch to the iPhone. For OEMs hoping to challenge Apple, we believe an even greater sense of urgency must be adopted."
The study relied on a sample size of over 3,000 applications used by 45 million consumers over four platforms: the iPhone OS (which includes the iPod touch), Google Android, BlackBerry and Java ME. More than 15 million "end user sessions" are tracked by programs that have the Flurry analytics software included.
Flurry's evidence that the iPod touch is used by teens and youth who are not yet in a position to own the iPhone is bolstered by the growth of the media player as a device for social networking and games. Since June, the share of sessions for the iPod touch for social media has grown by 2 percent, to 42 percent, and its share of game usage has grown by 6 percent, to 49 percent. In both of those categories, the iPod touch outpaced the iPhone and Android.
"Together, Social Networking and Games category usage reflects the strength of the iPod Touch Generation's influence among its peers," the report said. "As this segment increasingly migrates its social habits to smartphones, Flurry data shows that the iPod Touch is the largest beneficiary."
The iPod touch has been seen as a small but stealthy asset in Apple's product lineup. As overall sales of iPods shrink, the iPod touch has grown. In September, Apple released a new 64GB iPod touch with a faster processor boosting performance up to 50 percent.
Comments
As an intro the iPhone OS world you couldn't have anything better, sales are only going to increase for this.
as soon as the iphone gets on other networks, watch at&t's iphone sales (and subscriber levels) tank. the price of keeping the iphone exclusive will be far too large for at&t to pay. apple can easily say that they can sell 40 million more iphones if it was available on other networks. that's BILLIONS in lost revenue, let's see at&t pony that up.
by the way, if you have t-mobile coverage in your area (not for everybody, you'll want to be in a well populated area), you should be looking at switching. get the nokia n900 with tons more features and then watch yourself save $10 a month by not having a contract, and that means you'll be paying just about half the price of at&t service, especially if you have a family plan. t-mobile is the only company that actually gives you a discount for not locking yourself into a 2 year contract. even if you don't supply your own phone, it's amazing how much more desirable lowly t-mobile's phones are compared to all the crap at&t has. i swear they want to make their other phones worse so you'll just want an iphone.
if you end up hating t-mobile, you can take your unlocked nokia n900 to at&t and waste your money.
i have a regualr ass LG LX5200 that i bought for $20 on ebay and an ipod touch. i have wifi everywhere i go (college student) so any smartphone is a stupid choice. i have no idea why cell phone companies want to force you into a data plan with more than half their phones. it's nickel and diming at its worst; every desirable phone they (at&t especially) have requires a data plan. i would have an iphone with at&t right now if they didn't force the unneeded data plan on me, but i guess they'd rather make $0 from me than $50 per month.
"This translates into loyalty and switching costs, allowing Apple to seamlessly "graduate" young users from the iPod Touch to the iPhone."
This is exactly what happened to me... except I went one step further.
I went from an iPod touch 1G to an iPod touch 2G to an iPhone 3G S. I then ditched my Windows notebook PC for a MBP after being wowed by the iPhone.
A benefit for Apple is that the Touch UI makes for an easy transition to the iPhone. Android may have the same back-end across the board but varying UIs and HW setups are not going to make it a great cross-over system choice for many users.
T-Mobile althought small in the USA comparing to AT&T is much bigger company with much more contracts in the world. In general, T-Mobile is much bigger player in the world than AT&T and Verizon taken together globally. It makes me comfortable when I travel and I have GSM coverage from few network operators in even smallest companies... plus roaming is not that much pain.
Sorry, but currently if Apple wants to keep exclusiveness with AT&T I might "graduate" to ELSE mobile phone and depending on its quality and features it may happen permanently. I will be keeping my iPod Touch for offline applications, music and movies, however.
(an Euro living in the USA)
maybe if there was more than one carrier in the US...why would you want practically the same spotty coverage at t-mobile at nearly double the price?
as soon as the iphone gets on other networks, watch at&t's iphone sales (and subscriber levels) tank. the price of keeping the iphone exclusive will be far too large for at&t to pay. apple can easily say that they can sell 40 million more iphones if it was available on other networks. that's BILLIONS in lost revenue, let's see at&t pony that up.
by the way, if you have t-mobile coverage in your area (not for everybody, you'll want to be in a well populated area), you should be looking at switching. get the nokia n900 with tons more features and then watch yourself save $10 a month by not having a contract, and that means you'll be paying just about half the price of at&t service, especially if you have a family plan. t-mobile is the only company that actually gives you a discount for not locking yourself into a 2 year contract. even if you don't supply your own phone, it's amazing how much more desirable lowly t-mobile's phones are compared to all the crap at&t has. i swear they want to make their other phones worse so you'll just want an iphone.
if you end up hating t-mobile, you can take your unlocked nokia n900 to at&t and waste your money.
i have a regualr ass LG LX5200 that i bought for $20 on ebay and an ipod touch. i have wifi everywhere i go (college student) so any smartphone is a stupid choice. i have no idea why cell phone companies want to force you into a data plan with more than half their phones. it's nickel and diming at its worst; every desirable phone they (at&t especially) have requires a data plan. i would have an iphone with at&t right now if they didn't force the unneeded data plan on me, but i guess they'd rather make $0 from me than $50 per month.
You're right, my biggest complaint is the ~$50 I spend on ATT's data plan. It's too much. When I had my original iPhone I was seriously considering getting a 'Dumb' phone and an iPod Touch. But then, I didn't want to carry two pieces of equipment around, having to charge/sync both at night, remember both in the morning and also I reasoned that the syncing of the iPhone, contacts numbers, visual voicemail, integrated email and now that texting is becoming more prevalent it was better than trying to save ~$50/mo. When running a business, as I do, that is communications intensive you don't mind paying for added convenience. It boils down to productivity and ease of use not always savings!
But again, you make good points and I don't mean to minimize them. ATT has let me down on coverage/pricing, but Apple has not let me down in providing a superior phone/system in the 3Gs!
I will say that where ATT excels is the 'Rollover Minutes' feature they kept after acquiring Cingular. All mobile companies should have this feature!
This is exactly what happened to me... except I went one step further.
+1.
Went from iPod Nano to iPhone to MBP to iMac.
You're right, my biggest complaint is the ~$50 I spend on ATT's data plan.
1) The unlimited data plan cost is $30/month.
2) IT can be argued that it’s the iPhone that brought down the common unlimited data plan form $40-55 to a $30 average.
3) The only real plan benefit you get from others is from T-Mobile and Sprint because they are struggling. If T-Mobile gets the iPhone I would be surprised to see them stop offering the same deals they offer for other phones.
4) These highly subsidized smartphones are requiring a data plan from the carriers to cover their costs. I stated over 2 years ago that this move will likely get even more common and it has.
I will say that where ATT excels is the 'Rollover Minutes' feature the kept when acquiring Cingular. All mobile companies should have this feature
I’d prefer to see stepped plans. Meaning, if you go over your plan’s allotment they bump you up to the next plan so that even if you are excessive in every category for a month your maximum cost will be nothing more than the unlimited plan’s cost, instead of some multi-thousand dollar cost because your kid got crazy with the SMS. This would give the consumer some piece of mind with their plan help to attract customers and low turn over.
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To all you ATT haters, it is but temporary. By the time todays kids move on to iPhones VZ will be a carrier choice. What's happening now is not good but both Apple and VZ know that they are both loosing out. It won't last.
1) The unlimited data plan cost is $30/month.
2) IT can be argued that it’s the iPhone that brought down the common unlimited data plan form $40-55 to a $30 average.
3) The only real plan benefit you get from others is from T-Mobile and Sprint because they are struggling. If T-Mobile gets the iPhone I would be surprised to see them stop offering the same deals they offer for other phones.
4) These highly subsidized smartphones are requiring a data plan from the carriers to cover their costs. I stated over 2 years ago that this move will likely get even more common and it has.
I’d prefer to see stepped plans. Meaning, if you go over your plan’s allotment they bump you up to the next plan so that even if you are excessive in every category for a month your maximum cost will be nothing more than the unlimited plan’s cost, instead of some multi-thousand dollar cost because your kid got crazy with the SMS. This would give the consumer some piece of mind with their plan help to attract customers and low turn over.
You're probably right, but still ~$120/mo seems exorbitant....
I like your idea of the 'stepped' plans as opposed to rollover minutes.
Meanwhile, Android goes from 10% to 14%, which is a 40% increase.
I dunno, but it seems that the headline picked the least interesting data to highlight. The precipitous descent of the iPhone and the double-digit ascent of Android each seem more important than the modest gains of the iTouch.
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What an interesting signature...
EDIT: Sorry for more noise folx - I let the spammer get under my skin this AM.
Maybe I'm not reading things right, but all of the graphs seem to show the iPhone market share shrinking since June. In the All Categories graph, for example, the iPhone starts at 57%, and drops to 50%, which is what, a 15% drop?
Meanwhile, Android goes from 10% to 14%, which is a 40% increase.
I dunno, but it seems that the headline picked the least interesting data to highlight. The precipitous descent of the iPhone and the double-digit ascent of Android each seem more important than the modest gains of the iTouch.
You in fact are not reading the stats correctly it is not marketshare as in number of instaloled units or units sold but the Flurry study which "relied on a sample size of over 3,000 applications used by 45 million consumers over four platforms: the iPhone OS (which includes the iPod touch), Google Android, BlackBerry and Java ME. More than 15 million "end user sessions" are tracked by programs that have the Flurry analytics software included."
Does that help clarify things for you?
The cell companies also need to get more creative. T-Mobile is helping by competing on price, as a number of posters have pointed out. But cell companies need to offer reasonably priced pay-per-byte plans. On the go, I don't need a data plan, much less a pricey unlimited one. I can wait until I get to a WiFi connection for heavy data uses. Instead, I need to be able to access small blocks of data on the go, typically to know whether buses are running on time.
This is exactly what happened to me... except I went one step further.
I went from an iPod touch 1G to an iPod touch 2G to an iPhone 3G S. I then ditched my Windows notebook PC for a MBP after being wowed by the iPhone.
Wow, that's interesting. As a Mac user from the start when I made my first computer purchase, I have to ask, and this does not so much apply to iPod Touch or iPhone, but your transition from a Windows laptop PC for a MBP, what experiences, positive or negative, have you encountered between using a PC OS and a Mac OS? I ask because I have a friend who was looking at laptops and I tried to sway them to a MB or MBP but they shunned the idea because the Public School System they worked for as teacher and principal used PC, had IT guys for PC, etc and they worried about "differences" despite my best effort. Another neighbor was looking to replace their desktop and again, I encourage them to go Mac but they were worried of a new OS way of doing things. I was even asked by them, "How do I get on the internet using a Mac?" Now that's a very basic issue and question and one might even equate "intelligent" level but I'm not going there, but if these perceived fears and differences are felt by the average consumer not willing to give Mac a try, makes one think Apple needs to revisit their tv commercials to "educate" the masses about what a Mac can do just like a PC, but only better (biased comment? guilty as charged). Maybe Apple can purchase the rights of that song that can be used as the "Theme" song, "Everything you can do, I can do better!" with regards to getting online, checking e-mail, IM, saving digital photos and movies, songs whatever else one might use their computer for.
As a former PC OS laptop user, what would you say to a fellow PC OS user who has concerns about "differences" or worried of "a new OS way of doing things" to try and convey that their worries are unfounded if they decide to go Mac?
You in fact are not reading the stats correctly it is not marketshare as in number of instaloled units or units sold but the Flurry study which "relied on a sample size of over 3,000 applications used by 45 million consumers over four platforms: the iPhone OS (which includes the iPod touch), Google Android, BlackBerry and Java ME. More than 15 million "end user sessions" are tracked by programs that have the Flurry analytics software included."
Does that help clarify things for you?
I may have used a word of art incorrectly, but I think that I am conceptualizing correctly. By "marketshare", I meant "Share of the market using a particular device for the stated purpose" rather than "overall".
So, among gamers, the proportion using an iPhone seems to be shrinking. And for social networking, the proportion of iPhone users seems to be shrinking. For All Uses, the proportion using an iPhone seems to be shrinking.
I would think that this would be BIG BIG BIG news.
I see there are a lot of positive comments about T-Moblie, here. I looked at T-Mobile, too. They had two problems for me. No coverage in National Parks such as Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. Two, a lot of their phones have high SAR, radiation levels. (I know, AT&T has many, too.)
Rather than look up Yosemite to see if T-Mobile covered the park, the rep kept asserting that they had wide coverage and kept asking me to look at their map.
So, we got AT&T. Problem is, our previous Virgin Mobile, which used Sprint, covered our house better. AT&T breaks up when we talk inside the house. :-0 !
A new study of mobile device usage has found that the iPod touch is gaining in share, and suggests that the media player could eventually transition youth to the iPhone.
Not just youth. I had my touch for about 3 hours before I decided that my wife and I both just have to get iPhones. We'll wait until our current contract is up in August, but that $200 touch bought Apple about $1000 of eventual revenue from us.