iOS outreaches Android when iPod touch, iPad are counted in the mix
Some fascinating statistics have been released by comScore based on its MobiLens marketing analytics service, and the numbers show that iOS devices (including the iPad and iPod touch) outreach the Android platform by a whopping 59 percent in the US market.
The comScore numbers show a total installed base of 37,868,000 iOS users in the United States, with Android OS devices lagging behind with only about 23,763,000 users. Those numbers come out to 16.2 percent (Apple) and 10.2 percent (Android) respectively for share of the total US mobile subscriber market. The installed US base of iPhones and iPod touch devices were almost equal, with both device totals approximately twice as high as the number of iPads. That statistic is amazing, considering that the iPad had only been on the market for 10 months at the time that the study was performed.
comScore's senior vice president of mobile, Mark Donovan, noted that the numbers indicate that "the Apple ecosystem extends far beyond the iPhone," and that the assumption that the Apple user base is made up of "Apple fanboys" is invalid. [Was anyone assuming that? We doubt it. –Ed.]
The comScore study also shows that iPad owners aren't necessarily owners of iPhones. While iPhone owners make up about 27 percent of iPad owners, close to 14 percent of iPad owners had Android phones. The numbers also show that Samsung, LG and Nokia are over-represented among iPad owners in comparison to their shares of the smartphone market.
The age demographic for the iPad was a final index created by comScore, and it showed that the age profile is skewed mostly towards those in the 25-34 year old age range. Almost half of iPads are sold to Americans between the ages of 25 and 44, with another 30 percent of the Apple tablets going to the older US demographic over the age of 45. These numbers should be of interest to iOS developers, who may want to start creating apps for an older audience.
