Real time mobile usage data sees iOS dominating Android

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Despite owning only a fraction of the mobile market share enjoyed by Android, iOS is taking a commanding lead in actual usage, with the number of unique impressions accounting at times for more than three quarters of all traffic in the past week.

According to a new near-realtime tool launched by online ad network Chitika, over 71 percent of all mobile traffic originated from an iOS device in the last 24 hours, compared to Android's 23 percent.

Since the Mobile Dominance Tracker was announced on Apr. 19, Android impressions haven't surpassed one third of the traffic monitored while iOS has reached as high as 80 percent.

The system works by compiling operating system data from unique impressions seen on the firm's ads across its network of over 200,000 websites, though the official sample size is unknown. This raw data is then translated into both a rolling 24 hour pie chart and a line chart that breaks down usage by hours. To ensure continuity, the firm employs a six hour delay before posting results.

Android is still leading the mobile market and recent numbers from Nielsen see Google's OS taking a steady 48 percent share of the market. Apple has been catching up and now holds a 43 percent stake at the expense of RIM's BlackBerry and other smaller smartphone operating systems.


Mobile Dominance Tracker
Chitika Insight's Mobile Dominance Tracker gives iOS a commanding lead in mobile usage. | Source: Chitika

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 36
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Seems to me that people are using their Android smartphones as regular phones and somehow enjoying paying $30 a month for something they don't use.

  • Reply 2 of 36
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member


    Non AI version of this story:  "iOS is a data hog; costs users thousands" 


     


     


    ;) 


     


     

  • Reply 3 of 36


    ...or the principal 3G/4G use of an Android is to tether to a laptop.

  • Reply 4 of 36


    Android users don't care because they are too busy multi-tasking 40 stock and weather widgets. Exciting stuff.

  • Reply 5 of 36
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member


    And where is Microsoft?  No where to be found.  I'll bet Steve Ballmer blows a head gasket when he sees these reports.  In fact, I haven't heard much out of Steve Ballmer in the news, he is awfully quiet these days.  I guess they don't have much to discuss.

  • Reply 6 of 36
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member


    "Despite owning only a fraction of the mobile market share enjoyed by Android, iOS..."


     


    "Android is still leading the mobile market and recent numbers from Nielsen see Google's OS taking a steady 48 percent share of the market. Apple has been catching up and now holds a 43 percent..."


     


    Aren't these two statements completely at odds with one another? Is this article for real?


     


     

  • Reply 7 of 36
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    "Despite owning only a fraction of the mobile market share enjoyed by Android, iOS..."


     


    "Android is still leading the mobile market and recent numbers from Nielsen see Google's OS taking a steady 48 percent share of the market. Apple has been catching up and now holds a 43 percent..."


     


    Aren't these two statements completely at odds with one another? 


     


     



     


    Not at all.   43/48 is a fraction.

  • Reply 8 of 36
    majjomajjo Posts: 574member


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Seems to me that people are using their Android smartphones as regular phones and somehow enjoying paying $30 a month for something they don't use.



     


    Doesn't look like it from the data posted -- It looks like Android has about an equal to a slightly greater share than the iPhone; basically what you would expect given the smartphone marketshare breakdowns. Based on that I would say Android users are utilizing their $30/month approx as much as iPhone users.


     


    It's the iPad that pushes iOS way ahead of Android.

  • Reply 9 of 36
    majjo wrote: »
    <p>  </p><div class="quote-container"> <span>Quote:</span> <div class="quote-block"> Originally Posted by <strong>Tallest Skil</strong> <a href="/t/149552/real-time-mobile-usage-data-sees-ios-dominating-android#post_2099718"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" /></a><br /> <br /> <p> Seems to me that people are using their Android smartphones as regular phones and somehow enjoying paying $30 a month for something they don't use.</p> </div></div><p>  </p><p> Doesn't look like it from the data posted -- It looks like Android has about an equal to a slightly greater share than the iPhone; basically what you would expect given the smartphone marketshare breakdowns. Based on that I would say Android users are utilizing their $30/month approx as much as iPhone users.</p><p>  </p><p> It's the iPad that pushes iOS way ahead of Android.</p>

    Even the iPod touch seems to pull more than the other "smaller" smartphone OSs.

    But that "$30 for not using much data - using smartphone for regular phone" comment?

    People have grown acustom to free phones - even at a higher monthly rate. My wife is overdue for an upgrade. She still uses a basic phone, because she has little desire to pay a data fee. We went in to Verizon Saturday to see what they had for basic phones because the $30 upgrade fee was going into effect yesterday. Cheapest basic phone with two year contract was $80. Plenty of free droids to be had, though. She refuses to get a smartphone until there is shared data, so we walked out with nothing. She said, "why would I pay $80 for this piece of crap when for $100 I can get an iPhone 4?"

    Valid point (data aside) - and since many people are more concerned with up front pricing versus length of contract, I can imagine that people not needing or planning to get a smartphone walk out with a "free" droid.
  • Reply 10 of 36
    macbook promacbook pro Posts: 1,605member


    A single smartphone platform developer and manufacturer, Apple, has 43% market share with five total released models (including models no longer shipping) according to Nielsen. The top competing platform, Android, has only 48% market share with 35 manufacturers and 135 smartphone total released models (including models no longer shipping).  Competitors should be embarrassed.

  • Reply 11 of 36


    ...................

  • Reply 12 of 36
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member


    Everyone I know that (still) uses Android phones for the most part uses the Internet pieces of it minimally.  All for the same reasons... the user-experience is just downright horrible.  I've used them and while it's acceptable, I just shake my head in disappointment at how Google's standards are so low in terms of giving users a polished and efficient experience.  There's a reason their phones have such high-end specs because they need it just to make the gui-stuff tolerable, and even then it still sucks compared to iOS with "lesser" specs.  Damn shame.

  • Reply 13 of 36
    cvaldes1831cvaldes1831 Posts: 1,832member


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by I am a Zither Zather Zuzz View Post


    ...................



     


    How did you come to that conclusion from this report?


     


    It is ad views by mobile devices, regardless of connectivity type. Note that the iPod touch is a WiFi-only device. The iPad comes in both WiFi-only as well as cellular data models (and the latter is not enabled by default).


     


    This report only presents ad views from the Chitika network. It does not track the type of network usage of each device. If the user is tethering, streaming video, streaming audio, uploading 1080p video, uploading large images, this analysis does not cover that sort of usage.

  • Reply 14 of 36


    According to the source material, Chitika's 71% figure is the share for all iOS devices -- iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches -- among mobile computing devices, while Nielsen's 43% "fraction" is just the iPhone's share of the smartphone market. The iPad's dominance in the tablet market undoubtedly accounts for some of the difference between those two numbers. But how much? There's no way to tell from the information provided.


     


    To the AppleInsider Staff: If you're going to make comparisons, please use statistics that can be reasonably compared!


     

  • Reply 15 of 36
    macbook promacbook pro Posts: 1,605member


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Windsor Smith View Post


    According to the source material, Chitika's 71% figure is the share for all iOS devices -- iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches -- among mobile computing devices, while Nielsen's 43% "fraction" is just the iPhone's share of the smartphone market. The iPad's dominance in the tablet market undoubtedly accounts for some of the difference between those two numbers. But how much? There's no way to tell from the information provided.


     


    To the AppleInsider Staff: If you're going to make comparisons, please use statistics that can be reasonably compared!


     



     


     


    The Chitika Insights study represents both Google Android OS and Apple iOS.  The actual device isn't necessarily important and isn't compared in this study, the number of unique ad impressions is measured.  While this may be upsetting to some, this is extremely valuable information for developers and advertisers to know which platform to target.  Unfortunately for Google, this study is just another omen foretelling of the demise of Android.  Worse yet, Chitika Insights has also studied the clickghrough rate of mobile platforms and devices.  


     


    According to Wikipedia, Clickthrough Rate (CTR) is a way of measuring the success of an online advertising campaign for a particular website. The clickthrough rate of an advertisement is defined as the number of clicks on an ad divided by the number of times the ad is shown (impressions), expressed as a percentage.  For example, if a banner ad is delivered 100 times (100 impressions) and receives one click, then the clickthrough rate for the advertisement would be 1%.  Apple iPad and iPhone demonstrated slightly higher clickthrough rates indicating that not only do Apple devices generate more unique ad impressions but also generate more revenue per ad impression.

  • Reply 16 of 36
    msimpsonmsimpson Posts: 452member


    And now we know the real reason why the wireless carriers hate Apple.  It is not the high upfront costs of subsidizing the hardware costs, they are going to get that back in monthly fees because they have you locked into a contract.  The problem is iPhone users actual use them !

  • Reply 17 of 36
    Some day, if and when actual sales numbers are revealed (as Apple currently is the only one to do so in this sphere), we'll discover that Android's vaunted market share was badly exaggerated (48%? No way).

    Until then, we'll have to contend with silly debates over made-up, piecemeal facts -- i.e., debates that will never end.
  • Reply 18 of 36


    People use what they enjoy using. Nobody enjoys using Android.

  • Reply 19 of 36


    I guess they don't have much to discuss.

  • Reply 20 of 36
    majjomajjo Posts: 574member


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post



    Some day, if and when actual sales numbers are revealed (as Apple currently is the only one to do so in this sphere), we'll discover that Android's vaunted market share was badly exaggerated (48%? No way).

    Until then, we'll have to contend with silly debates over made-up, piecemeal facts -- i.e., debates that will never end.


     


    The data shown above lends support to the 48% number.


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleZilla View Post


    People use what they enjoy using. Nobody enjoys using Android.



    That's absurd. Plenty of android users enjoy using their devices.


     

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