Android Takes Lead in Smartphone OS Share

 

When it comes to US consumer marketshare by operating system, Android (29%) appears to be pulling ahead of RIM Blackberry (27%) and Apple iOS (27%), according to new Nielsen Company analysis of January 2011 data. But an analysis by manufacturer shows RIM and Apple to be the winners compared to other device makers, since they are the only ones creating and selling smartphones with their respective operating systems.

HTC, Motorola Follw in OS Share

HTC follows with 12% of consumer smartphone owners having an HTC Android device and 7% owning an HTC device running a Microsoft OS. Ten percent of consumer smartphone owners had a Motorola Android device and 1% owned a Motorola device running a Microsoft OS.

The other device manufacturer representing a significant percentage of consumers using a smartphone with the Android OS is Samsung (5%). Two percent of consumers also use a Samsung smartphone running Microsoft OS.

Ten percent of consumer smartphone owners use a device running Microsoft OS. The Palm/Web and Symbian operating systems combined only account for roughly 8% of the US smartphone market.

Android Skews Younger

Of the three most popular US smartphone operating systems, Android seems to attract more young consumers. About 21% of Android users are 18-24 (representing six of Android’s 29 share percentage points), compared to about 15% of RIM Blackberry and Apple iOS users (four of 27 percentage points each).

The youngest adult consumers segment is where Android has a notable edge on its two chief rivals. Percentages of all other age brackets are fairly similar.

comScore: Google 2nd-Biggest Smartphone OS in ‘10

The rapid adoption of Google Android mobile devices during 2010 made Google the second-largest smartphone operating system (OS) in the US by the end of the year, trailing only market leader RIM, according to a new white paper from comScore. “The 2010 US Digital Year in Review” indicates that among smartphone OS platforms, RIM retained its lead with 31.6% market share in December 2010 (although decreasing roughly one-quarter from 41.6% the previous year).

Apple, Android, RIM in Tight Struggle to Lead Smartphone Market

The race for the lead in US smartphone operating system (OS) consumer market share is tighter than it has ever been, according to November 2010 data from The Nielsen Company. Nielsen research indicates the popularity of the Android OS among those who purchased a smartphone in the last six months (41%) makes it the leading OS among recent acquirers, while Apple iOS retains a slim lead in overall market share.

Android Surges among Recent Acquirers

As mentioned above, Android captured a roughly 41% share of Americans who had acquired a smartphone in the last six months in November 2010, well ahead of number two Apple iOS (about 27%). Both of these OS platforms grew in popularity among this demographic from June 2010 (27.5% and 21%, respectively).

In contrast, RIM Blackberry lost close to half its formerly leading share of recent acquirers in that same time period. While 35% of recent smartphone acquirers used the RIM Blackberry OS in June 2010, only about 19% did in November 2010, placing it a distant third.

Race for Overall Share Tightens

Despite its surge among recent acquirers, when it comes to overall consumer market share, Android OS (about 26%) is still behind Apple iOS (close to 29%). RIM Blackberry’s position is less clear. Its share (also about 26%) puts it within the margin of error of both Apple iOS and Android. In other words, RIM remains statistically tied with both Apple for first and Android for third. Apple’s clear lead over Android notwithstanding, Nielsen says this race might still be too close to call.

However, RIM Blackberry has lost its clear number one position in June 2010 (34%), while Android has gained more than 50% market share from 15% in the same time period.

More than 4 in 10 Recent Acquirers Choose Smartphones

All three smartphone OS leaders, Apple iOS, RIM Blackberry and Android, are benefiting from strong demand for smartphones. In November, 45% of recent acquirers chose a smartphone over a feature phone, while 31% of all consumers owned a smartphone.

Growth in smartphone ownership among both overall consumers and recent acquirers grew briskly from June to August 2010 and then moderated between September and November 2010.

Android Top New Smartphone App Platform

A leading 29% of smartphone application publishers say they will begin supporting the Android platform next year, according to the Millennial Media November 2010 Mobile Mix report. This outdistances the second-most-popular new smartphone app platform for next year, iPad (20%), by a healthy margin. Twenty percent of smartphone app publishers also plan to begin supporting Windows Phone7 next year. No other platform has anywhere close to this level of planned new support, with RIM coming in a distant fourth (12%).

Android Top New Smartphone App Platform for ‘11

A leading 29% of smartphone application publishers say they will begin supporting the Android platform next year, according to the Millennial Media November 2010 Mobile Mix report. This outdistances the second-most-popular new smartphone app platform for next year, iPad (20%), by a healthy margin. Twenty percent of smartphone app publishers also plan to begin supporting Windows Phone7 next year. No other platform has anywhere close to this level of planned new support, with RIM coming in a distant fourth (12%).

Android Apps Represent More than Half of Platform Mix

In more good news for the Android platform, Android applications represented 54% of the application platform mix in November 2010, averaging 10% growth month-over-month for the past four consecutive months. The only platform with anywhere close to this level of support was iOS, representing 39% of the total mix.

Gaming Remains Top App Category

The popularity of gaming applications on the Millennial Media network continued as gaming remained the leading application category on the network and accounted for 28% of the application impressions in November 2010.

Music & entertainment apps moved up to the number two position in November with 22% of the impression share. Within this category, Millennial research indicates television & movie app impressions have more
than doubled month-over-month, but music apps still lead the category with more than 70% of the impression share.

Automotive apps entered the top mobile application categories for the first time last month. Automotive app impressions more than tripled month-over-month; which Millennial says reflects the increased use of mobile as consumers researched new auto purchases and end-of-year promotions.

iOS, Android Tie as Top Smartphone OS

iOS and Android shared the top spot in the smartphone OS mix, each with 38% of the impressions, followed by RIM with a 19% impression share.

Smartphones accounted for 58% of the smartphone, feature phone & connected device impression share in November 2010. Feature phones and connected devices experienced a 1% and 2% increase in impression share month-over-month, respectively. Together, they represented 42% of impressions in November.

Nielsen: Apple iOS, Android Most Desired Smartphone Platforms

Among all likely US smartphone upgraders from August-October 2010, nearly one-third (30%) desire to upgrade to a device running Apple iOS, according to recent Nielsen data. Android follows closely with 28% desiring this platform. No other operating system approaches the popularity of Apple iOS or Android among likely smartphone upgraders. RIM Blackberry was a distant third, chosen by 13% of respondents.

Mobile Advertisers Leverage Social Media

About one-quarter of mobile advertising campaign actions in October 2010 led to social media post-click, according to the October 2010 Millennial Media SMART Report.

Social Media Drives Brand Engagement, Lead Gen

Social media, as a post-click campaign action, represented 26% of the mobile campaign actions in October 2010. The top advertisers on the Millennial network from the finance, automotive, entertainment and retail verticals leveraged the social media platform to drive further brand engagement, as well as lead generation.

Retail Promotion, M-commerce Grow as Campaign Actions

Retail promotion and m-commerce as post-click campaign actions experienced tremendous growth month-over-month with a 13% and 8% increase, respectively. Millennial analysis shows the increase is tied to brands in the retail and CPG verticals developing promotions to drive increased holiday sales through mobile advertising.

Traffic to Site Top Mobile Ad Destination

Traffic to Site continued to be the top destination for brands advertising on mobile and represented a 42% impression share in October 2010. Custom Landing page as a campaign destination grew slightly to represent 40% share of impressions.

More than eight in 10 (82%) of campaigns on the Millennial network drove to these two mobile web destinations, providing further validation that brands are finding value in maintaining a persistent mobile web presence.

Targeted Audience Campaign Methods More Popular

The trend of advertisers leveraging targeted-audience campaign methods (GEO, Demographic, Behavioral Audience and Audience Takeover) continued for the fifth consecutive month, with 44% of campaigns on the Millennial network leveraging these methods.

Broad reach methods (Run of Network, Custom Subnet and Channel) represented 56% of the campaign targeting mix in October 2010. These methods are recommended for broad-reaching brand campaigns and brands first entering the mobile space.

Audience takeover as a targeting method accounted for 7% of the targeted audience mix in October 2010. Millennial data indicates brands in the entertainment and CPG verticals utilized this targeting method to achieve 100% share of voice for new movie releases and product launches.

Mobile Restaurant Interaction Spikes

The restaurant vertical received a significant 51% spike in mobile interaction during the four-day Thanksgiving weekend (November 25-28, 2010), likely due to consumers seeking a break from cooking after preparing a large holiday meal. CPG had a 31% mobile interaction lift, which Millennial analysis indicates resulted from consumers seeking cooking tips on the actual Thanksgiving holiday.

The movie sub-vertical of entertainment received a 31% lift as consumers sought options to amuse themselves on their day off, which also probably led to a 19% spike in mobile access of dating sites.

Text Coupons Most Popular Retail-related Consumer Mobile Activity

Looking at a variety of retail-related consumer mobile activities, text coupons lead both in terms of current engagement (25%) and planned engagement in the next 12 months (47%), according to a recent study from IHL Group. Probably due to the high percentage of consumers who will already be using mobile text coupons within 12 months, planned engagement within 12 to 24 months is only 9%, tied for second-lowest with consumer self-checkout.

The other two retail-related consumer mobile activities currently used by more than 20% of mobile phone subscribers are regular barcode (22%) and 2D barcode (21%). Coupons on mobile screen only have 16% current engagement, but 38% planned engagement within the next 12 months, second only to text coupons in this category.

More Americans Own Mobile Phones than Computers

A higher percentage of US adults owns a mobile phone than owns a computer, according to new data from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.

Cell Phones, Computers Top Gadgets
Pew data indicates that 85% of Americans now own a cell phone. Cell phone ownership rates among young adults have reached 96% of 18-to-29 year olds. Meanwhile, three-quarters (76%) of Americans own either a desktop or laptop computer. Since 2006, laptop ownership has grown dramatically (from 30% to 52%) while desktop ownership has declined slightly.

Less than Half Own MP3 Players, Video Games
Ownership rates of other popular gadgets among US adults do not reach 50%. Slightly less than half of American adults (47%) own an MP3 player such as an iPod. This represents a nearly five-fold increase from the 11% who owned this type of device in early 2005.

Console gaming devices like the Xbox and PlayStation are nearly as common as mp3 players, as 42% of Americans own a home gaming device. Parents (64%) are nearly twice as likely as non-parents (33%) to own a game console.

Tablets, E-readers Grow with Early Adopters
Compared with the other devices on this list, e-book readers (such as the Kindle) and tablet computers (such as the iPad) are relatively new arrivals to the consumer technology scene and are owned by a relatively modest number of Americans.

However, these devices are proving popular with traditional early adopter groups such as the affluent and highly educated. Ownership rates for tablets and e-book readers among college graduates and those earning $75,000 or more per year are roughly double the national averages of 5% and 4%, respectively.

Multiple Ownership Common
Eight in 10 American adults (78%) own two or more of these devices, and the median adult owns three of the seven gadgets we asked about in our survey. Among other factors, device ownership is highly correlated with age.

For example, the typical adult younger than age 45 owns four devices, while the typical adult between the ages of 55 and 64 owns two and the typical senior (age 65 or older) owns just one. Those with high levels of income and education are also more likely to own a relatively large number of devices compared with those with lower income and education levels.

iPad Owners Valuable to Advertisers
iPad owners may currently represent a small segment of the adult US population, but they demonstrate a number of demographic trends that make them valuable to advertisers, according to research from The Nielsen Company. iPad owners skew younger and more male than owners of many other portable computing devices. Sixty-five percent of them are male and 63% of them are younger than the age of 35.

Mobile Behaviour Varies Globally

US mobile users do the most social networking, European mobile users text the most, and Japanese mobile users are the most connected, according to new comScore MobiLens data.

US Leads in Mobile Social Networking, IM
A comScore cross-market analysis of mobile activities in the US, Europe and Japan revealed significant differences among consumers by geography. Out of the three markets, in June 2010 social networking/blogs reached the greatest percentage of mobile users in the US at 21.3%, followed by Japan at 17% and Europe at 14.7%.

Perhaps reflecting the slower adoption of advanced mobile technology in the US as compared to other global markets, social networking and instant messaging (17% reach compared to 12.6% reach in Europe and only 3.3% reach in Japan) were the only major mobile activities where the US had a significant lead.

Europeans Text Most
Messaging methods also varied, with Europeans displaying the strongest use of text messaging with 81.7% sending a text message in June 2010, compared to 66.8% in the US and just 40.1% in Japan.

Japanese Most Connected
Mobile users in Japan were the most “connected” of the three markets, with more than 75% using connected media (browsed, accessed applications or downloaded content) in June 2010, compared to 43.7% in the US and 38.5% in Europe.

Japanese mobile users also displayed the strongest usage of both applications and browsers with 59.3% of the entire mobile population accessing their browsers in June 2010 and 42.3% accessing applications. In addition, Japanese users exhibited the highest reach in the email category at 54%.

Comparatively, 34% of mobile users in the US and 25.8% in Europe used their mobile browsers, with 31.1% in the US and 24.9% in Europe accessing applications.

Japanese Mobile Use Patterns Most Age- and Gender-Balanced
A comScore demographic analysis of mobile media users across markets showed that mobile media consumption was more balanced across age segments in Japan when compared to the US and Europe. In the US, 25-34 year olds were 44% more likely to access mobile media than an average mobile user, with 18-24 year olds 39% more likely. In Europe, 18-24 year olds represented the most-connected segment, 54% more likely to be mobile media users, while persons age 25-34 were 35% more likely.

The US and Europe also showed greater gender disparity among mobile media audiences. Females were 9% less likely to be mobile media users in the US, while females in Europe were 16% less likely.

Twitter Scores Globally
In all three markets, the top mobile social media brand mirrored the top PC-based social networking brand, with Facebook leading in the US and Europe and Mixi leading in Japan. Local brands Gree and Mobage Town were the number two and four most-accessed social networking brands in Japan. Twitter was the only brand to be ranked in the top four in all three markets.

Mobile Twitter Use Explodes
Mobile usage of the Twitter social network has increased more than 60% in the past five months, according to data from Twitter. The total number of mobile Twitter users grew 62% between April and September 2010, according to statistics compiled by Twitter. In addition, since that time, the number of Twitter users who start out using Twitter via mobile device has risen from 5% to 16%. Furthermore, close to half (46%) of all Twitter users at least occasionally access the network via mobile device.

Mobile Users Ready for Location-Based Text Marketing

Mobile marketing is not just for smartphones

Though smartphone shipments are rising and expected to surpass shipments of feature phones in 2011, according to Morgan Stanley, feature phones are still the devices in the hands of most mobile users. An April 2010 ExactTarget study found 58% of all US internet users ages 15 and older had one, compared with 31% who had a smartphone.

That means a large swathe of mobile users cannot be reached by more sophisticated mobile marketing efforts like sponsored apps, in-app ads or campaigns on the mobile web. According to location-based advertising network 1020 Placecast, opt-in text alerts are the smart way to target a fuller mobile audience.

A May 2010 survey conducted for Placecast by Harris Interactive found that while most mobile users still have not signed up for any text alerts, there was a small rise in interest since a similar poll in 2009: 28% were at least somewhat interested in the alerts, up 2 percentage points, and 8% were extremely or very interested, up 3 percentage points. For under-35s, interest was significantly higher.

Those who wanted the alerts were most interested in coupons and promotions from grocery stores and restaurants. Respondents who had signed up for text alerts said it made them more likely to visit the company’s website (34%), visit the store (33%) and purchase the product being promoted, either in online (28%) or in the store (27%).

Many agreed that making those text alerts location-based, so that recipients would get the right offer at the right time, could make the channel more useful or interesting.

While awareness of location-based text alerts is still building, there is the potential to reach a broader audience than with check-in apps such as foursquare or Gowalla, which are designed with smartphone owners in mind. And despite negative attitudes of many mobile users toward SMS marketing, Placecast reports low opt-out rates among recipients.

Mobile Shopping Doubles in 2010

Shopping, yes. Buying? Maybe

Mobile commerce has been slow to catch on. According to Multichannel Merchant, four in five multichannel retailers have no m-commerce presence. But while consumer usage of mobile shopping is still relatively low, it is increasing, prompting firms such as Coda Research Consultancy to predict a doubling of m-commerce revenues in the US this year, to $2.4 billion.

There has also been a doubling in usage of mobile shopping, according to PriceGrabber.com’s “Smartphone Shopping Behavior” survey. In April 2010, 35% of US Web-enabled mobile phone owners said they had participated in some form of mobile shopping in the past year, such as browsing or researching but not necessarily purchasing products. That was up from 17% who said the same in 2009. Still, only 13% actually made purchases via mobile, up from 10% last year.

Among all mobile users, there was a marked willingness to adopt more mobile shopping behaviors over the next two years, though a significant portion of the population indicated they would never be interested in such activities.

Consumers’ greater willingness to shop on the mobile channel rather than buy is supported by other research. Retrevo found in February 2010 that across all age groups Internet users were at least three times as likely to research or compare prices on their phones as they were to make a purchase.

In Q9 2009, four times as many Internet users surveyed by ATG said they researched or browsed via mobile at least weekly than bought.

Among the mobile buyers surveyed by PriceGrabber.com, the top purchases were of digital content for their phones and consumer electronics, with both categories increasing over last year.

PriceGrabber found some of the barriers to further mobile buying were inherent to the medium, with respondents complaining that mobile screens were too small and saying that they simply preferred using a PC because it was easier. About one-third of respondents also said the mobile buying process takes too long, and one-quarter indicated transactions were too difficult to complete.

Social Networking Ranks as Fastest-Growing Mobile Content Category

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a report on the fastest-growing mobile application and browser content categories based on data from its MobiLens service. The report found that social networking led as the top-gaining category for both application and browser access, confirming the surging popularity of this service on mobile devices. The study also found that accessing Bank Accounts was one of the fastest-gaining categories via both app and browser, as the convenience of mobile banking continues to appeal to a growing number of consumers.

“With mobile media consumption on the rise, the discussion of how consumers are accessing content -- whether it is via application, browser or both -- continues to be an important factor for companies looking to invest further in their mobile brands,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. “Although application access is clearly on the rise, with several categories more than doubling their audience via this method, content consumption via browser continues to be the most popular method for Americans to access mobile media.”

Smartphone Users Post Triple-Digit Growth in App and Browser Access

In terms of penetration, 78 percent of smartphone users accessed their browser in April 2010, while 80 percent of smartphone users accessed applications. In comparison, just 19 percent of feature phone users accessed their browser, with 17 percent accessing applications. Although smartphone users are driving growth in browser (up 111 percent in the past year) and application (up 112 percent) access, feature phone users still make up nearly half of all users accessing mobile browsers and apps.

“Although growth in application usage on smartphones continues to grab the spotlight in the mobile market, the audience using their mobile browser remains larger and is growing just as quickly,” added Donovan. “Brands need to remember to take into consideration the user experience across both channels when building their mobile strategies.”

Social Networking App Audience More Than Triples in Past Year

In April 2010, 69.6 million mobile users accessed an application on their phone, an increase of 28 percent from the previous year. Several application categories experienced triple-digit growth in the past year, emphasizing the increasing popularity of this method as a form of mobile content access. Social Networking experienced the strongest growth in app access, increasing 240 percent to 14.5 million users. Accessing News apps followed, growing 124 percent to 9.3 million users, while Sports Information apps experienced a 113-percent surge to nearly 7.7 million users. Bank Accounts apps also more than doubled their audience, growing to nearly 5 million users in April.

More Americans Still Use their Browser versus Applications

Nearly 73 million mobile users accessed their browser in April, an increase of 31 percent from the previous year. Mirroring application category growth, Social Networking ranked as the fastest-growing category accessed via browser, growing 90 percent from the previous year to reach almost 30 million users, followed by Bank Accounts (69 percent to 13.2 million users). Online Retail sites also experienced a significant increase in audience usage via browser, increasing 47 percent to 7.3 million users, as Americans continued to show adoption of the mobile retail channel.

Donovan continued, “Social networking is by far the fastest-growing mobile activity right now. With 20 percent of mobile users now accessing social networking sites via their phone, we expect to see both application and browser usage continuing to drive future consumption of social media.”

.Mobile Phones Beat PC’s for Young Women

Back in December of last year I wrote a post on the future of the Internet in 2020, and in that post one of the predictions was that mobile devices would be the primary connection tool to the Internet and social media for most people. Well I thought I’d revisit the progress of that statement and look at if the mobile device is in fact having any impact on searching trends.
Some new research from a company in the US SRG, has found the mobile phone is displacing the PC among US women in terms of usage – especially in the 12-24 age group, the survey has found that young women spend twice as much time with their cell phones as women over age 40.

The survey also revealed that more than 80% of US women now use a wireless device and 17% use a smartphone, such as an iPhone, BlackBerry or models from HTC, Samsung, LG or similar. Among those in the 12-24 and 25-39 age groups, smartphone ownership is now 23%. In contrast 11% of women ages 40+ own a smartphone.
When asked about the top benefits of owning a smartphone, the top answers among women were convenience, the ability to send texts and email, and access to social media online.
When asked what technology had the most impact on their life in the past two years, women overall picked the internet, followed by the PC/computer, and cell/wireless in a distant third spot. This changed amongst young women, where a wireless device took the #1 spot:

So how does that impact on how they use social media?

The study found that more mobile usage and smartphone ownership is enabling women to bypass the traditional PC to upload their pictures to social media sites:
Nearly 74% of 12-24 year-olds say they have taken a photo with their cell phone in the past month.

Young women are twice as likely have used the internet browser on their cell phone in the past month.

22% of 12-24 year-olds used their mobile device to access Facebook, MySpace or Twitter in the past month, making them four times as likely as older women to have accessed social media such as a Facebook profile or MySpace page on their mobile phone.
From that research and the upward trend of smart phone usage, particularly amongst women, who are the bigger users of social media, you don’t need to be Einstein to work out that the smart phone will be the primary connection tool for the Internet and social media online well before 2020.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, so please leave me a comment on this post.