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Android has good engaged base for future app growth

By | August 27, 2009, 6:26am PDT

A survey by AdMob shows that Android, iPhone and iPod touch users are all highly engaged with applications and frequently download them to their devices. However, Android has a much smaller base of devices and therefore has more upside ahead.

AdMob, an outfit that tracks mobile Web and application usage, found that Android and iPhone users download nine to 10 apps a month and iPod touch users download 18 a month. More than half of the Android and iPhone users spend more than 30 minutes a day using apps. The best survey data from AdMob is in its supplemental PDF and full report (Techmeme).

That’s some serious engagement and a lot of runway for Android. Why? Android-powered devices—T-Mobile’s MyTouch is the headliner—are hard to come by. However, that’s changing as Motorola will be taking Android handsets to large carriers like Verizon Wireless in the fourth quarter.

Simply put, Android has a nice base of engaged users already. More distribution is likely to make it a more viable rival to the iPhone. Also see: It’s official: Google and Apple are competitors (especially in mobile)

By the charts:

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Topics

Apple iPhone, Survey, Android, Smart Phones, Marketing Research, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Marketing, Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

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Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn’t hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.

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RE: Android has good engaged base for future app growth
makrejktt48-24353614433154813928226228864324 Updated - 5th Nov
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0 Votes
+ -
Android base not engaged
rynning 27th Aug 2009
According to this study, Android users don't buy that many apps, which is bad
news for the platform and could cause developers to get out if they expect to
make money.
0 Votes
+ -
Keep in mind (response to rynning)
Michael Kelly Updated - 27th Aug 2009
that Android users can install software from sources other than the Android market. iPhone/iPod users only have the Apple App Store. This study does not address that.

Also note that Android users will use their apps slightly more than iPhone users. One could say (though not enough information is available to prove this conclusively) that this, plus the fact that fewer purchases are being made, means that the Android user is more satisfied with his software and thus does not feel the need to plop down $.99 to try out every app under the sun.
0 Votes
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App store doesn't matter
rynning 27th Aug 2009
From the study: "Respondents were sourced by responding to mobile ads throughout AdMob's iPhone and Android networks. There were 1,117 total respondents: 390 Android, 380 iPhone and 347 iPod touch. The survey was run from August 14th - August 21st."

So where they got the app doesn't matter. In fact, most (all?) of the other Android sources for apps are free, furthering the point that those users generally don't buy a lot of apps.

The results are skewed another way, however. The study just looked at apps that have admob ads. A lot of paid apps have no ads at all, so these aren't counted in the results. In other words, the market for paid apps is likely bigger on both platforms than what they are reporting.

Your second point is interesting but a stretch. You say that fewer Android apps are bought because they are better. I think a better argument could be made that fewer Android apps are bought simply because there are fewer apps available to buy.
0 Votes
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beat me to it!
TechPr0sSD 27th Aug 2009
"So where they got the app doesn't matter. In
fact, most (all?) of the other Android sources
for apps are free, furthering the point that
those users generally don't buy a lot of apps."

lol



i like your point that android users purchase
fewer apps because... there's fewer apps to
buy!

but also, i have a sneaking suspicion that ppl
who purchase android devices simply prefer to
spend less - !
0 Votes
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It's more lack of storage space on the phone
mrlinux 10th Sep 2009
Android phones can not store Apps on the SD card, just the small amount of internal memory(G1 256mb).



The Android phone can be hacked to store apps on SD card however it is very technical process.
0 Votes
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The more important question: Why Admob's tracking user's usage habit?
Samic 27th Aug 2009
I don't remember that I agreed to any EULA in apps that would allow Admob to track my usage...
0 Votes
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The most important question: Why does an Android post attract so few?
rynning 27th Aug 2009
A post with Android in the title warrants only 5 replies after being online 12 hours? Nobody cares about the platform? I know Android is not THAT irrelevant. Maybe Android users are too busy using their free apps...
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Android has good engaged base for future app growth
makrejktt48-24353614433154813928226228864324 Updated - 5th Nov
Guess what, My spouse and i this short hours once again initiated reviewing green bay packers jerseys your internet page blog page ?C thanks nfl jersey for your home supreme give you Detroit Lions Jerseys the gains.

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