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IOS impressions grow 60pc: Millennial Media

IOS mobile advertising impressions grew 60 percent year-to-year on Millennial Media?s network, indicating that Apple remains a steady force in the industry.

IPad impressions grew 456 percent and iPod touch impressions increased by 30 percent. The study compared the network?s third quarter results in 2010 to those in 2011.

?As an operating system, iOS grew 60 percent year-over-year from Q3 2010 to Q3 2011,? said Mack McKelvey, senior vice president of marketing at Millennial Media, Baltimore, MD.

?This is a reflection of the increased impact connected devices are having on the mobile landscape in general,? she said.

Apple picking
The Millennial Media report cited a Fortune article from May that says there are more than 500,000 applications in Apple?s App Store.

Forty-one percent of iPhone users have 100,000 or more annual income.

In particular, iPads make up a large majority of tablet activity, with 97 percent of United States tablet impressions coming from the device, says a comScore study.

Additionally, a study from Garner expects 46.7 million iPads to be sold in 2011.

According to the Millennial report, Apple was the top manufacturer for all devices across the network in the third quarter of 2011 with 23 percent share.

Samsung followed as the No. 2 manufacturer with 16.48 percent of the market.

Similarly, the iPhone was the top mobile phone, making up 12.55 percent of impressions for the third quarter.

The iPhone made up 54 percent of iOS impressions on the platform.

Android devices made up 56 percent of the connected device and smartphone mix for the third quarter.

Twenty-eight percent of connected device and smartphone mix impressions came from iOS devices.

?Android remained the leading operating system on our platform,? Ms. McKelvey said.

?The impact of Android can also be seen through the growth of individual manufacturers, as HTC for example has grown over 100 percent year-over-year, and had six of the top 20 mobile phones on our network last month.?

Ranked by ad spend, Android beat Apple with 49 percent in the application platform mix.

The growth is evidence of Android?s 20 percent quarter-over-quarter growth from the second quarter to the third.

Apple received 41 percent of the application platform mix, and RIM accumulated 8 percent of the application platform mix.

The top category for applications were games, which made up 34 percent of app impressions, followed by music and entertainment, mocial and communications apps.

News apps grew 36 percent quarter-over-quarter.

Smart owners
According to the Millennial report, 72 percent of the network?s mix came from smartphones.

Feature phones made up 14 percent of devices.

Finally, 14 percent of the device mix were connected devices.

Smartphones have grown 7 percent quarter-over-quarter for Millennial and 37 percent year-over-year.

Millennial?s growth in iOS activity is proof that Apple remains a steady force in the industry, especially because the company did not release any new products during the third quarter.

However, Android?s continued lead in operating systems shows its reach with multiple manufacturers.

Additionally, companies are releasing more Android-first apps recently because the approval time is not as long as Apple?s.

By using Android, a company can push its app through the marketplace with a significant customer base.

?When looking at the impact connected devices have made on the mobile landscape, it can also be helpful to look at specific verticals,? Ms. McKelvey said.

?In our next Mobile Intel Series report, we?ll be taking an in-depth look at the finance industry,? she said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York