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Tablet ad impressions jump 88pc in six months: InMobi

In a sign of how quickly marketers are embracing tablets as a new way to engage with customers, InMobi reports that tablet impressions have grown 88 percent on its network in the last six months.

While the report finds that the iPad dominates the tablet market with 71 percent of overall impression share, it also points to the growing competitiveness in the space with Apple losing 10.8 percent of its market share to Android between the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012. The iPad is followed byAndroid, with 29 percent of overall impression share, gaining 10.7 percent from the fourth quarter.

?Although huge amounts of marketers have realized the power of mobile, many are still playing catch-up, and certainly consumers adoption of mobile is faster than marketers,? said Ann Frisbie, vice president and North America managing director at InMobi, San Mateo, CA.

?The report highlights that tablets are now also becoming a serious consideration, and they cannot be overlooked," she said.

Kindle Fire in second place
InMobi?s first North America Tablet Insights Report reveals that tablet impressions have been growing nearly twice as fast as smartphones in North America.

One of the factors contributing to the success of tablets with marketers is the rich Web browsing experience they offer as a result of their larger screen sizes compared with smartphones. This enables brand to create deep, rich ads that engage users and enhance their experience.

With the price of tablets coming down and new low-priced entries such as Amazon?s Kindle Fire gaining some traction, the tablet audience is also getting larger and broader, which is also attracting new marketers to the space.

The Kindle Fire, which is built on a modified Android platform and a relative newcomer to the tablet space, came in second behind the iPad with a 9.2 percent share of ad impressions.

?It?s interesting to see the great success of Kindle Fire, in such a short period of time, compared to its competitors,? Ms. Frisbie said. ?In an increasingly crowded market, price point is becoming more important ? as tablet prices continue to decrease, the Kindle fire may need to fight to hold its position in the months ahead.?

The Asus Eee Pad came in third with a 5.2 percent share, up 2.5 percent from the fourth quarter.

Other tablets command just 0.3 percent of ad impressions, gaining 0.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011.

?The results clearly highlight that Apple is currently dominating the market, but it?s worth noting that the space is still relatively young,? Ms. Frisbie said.

?If we take some learnings from the smartphone industry, we will see increased competition and fragmentation, and smart marketers should note that the market is developing very quickly ? it doesn?t take long for these developments to take place," she said.