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Impressions from touchscreen devices grow 44pc year-over-year: study

Impressions from touchscreens on Millennial Media?s network grew 44 percent year-to-year, proving that smartphone adoption is on the rise.

Additionally, touchscreens made up 69 percent of device impressions in Millennial Media?s most recent Smart report, which looked specifically at how the company?s ad network breaks down by device. Despite the rise in smartphone usage over the past year, the study also found an interesting increase in feature phones with the Samsung Freedom phone making the list of top 20 phones.

?Having a feature phone appear back in our list of the top 20 mobile phones is an interesting development,? said Mack McKelvey, senior vice president of marketing at Millennial Media, Baltimore, MD.

?While smartphones have grown at a phenomenal rate, feature phones still have an important place in the overall mobile landscape, and advertisers should definitely consider this when planning campaigns,? she said.

Device run-down
The Samsung Freedom marks the first appearance of a feature phone on Millennial Media?s top 20 phones since May.

In general, feature phones made up 15 percent of total impressions on the ad network for the month of October.

Smartphones made up 71 percent of the carrier mix and connected devices made up 14 percent.

For operating systems, Android made up 56 percent of the overall impressions, and Apple?s iOS made up 28 percent of the operating system mix.

Symbian made up 13 percent of the operating system usage.

Apple continued to dominate as the top phone manufacturer, with 23.5 percent of impressions.

HTC raked in 18.11 percent of manufacturer impressions in the No. 2 spot for top manufacturers.

Samsung grew 7 percent month-over-month as a phone manufacturer in the report and claimed six of the top 20 phones.

Apple?s iPhone was the top phone with 12.53 percent of impressions.

The Motorola Droid X device was the No. 2 phone and made up 5.51 percent of the market share.

Strong appetite
For applications, Android accounted for 50 percent of ad spend in the month of October. Apple claimed 40 percent.

RIM claimed the No. 3 spot in app ad spend with 6 percent.

Games were the most popular app category for October with mocial and communications apps following.

For Android apps, music and entertainment were the top category, and productivity and tools apps increased 14 percent month-to-month.

For Apple apps, music and entertainment apps took over as the most popular app category, which grew 19 percent month-to-month. Gaming apps moved to the No. 2 spot for app categories.

The report also outlines a few points from Millennial Media?s upcoming state of apps report.

For 2012, 40 percent of developers said their main goal was to develop apps, compared to improving apps or an app strategy.

Twenty-one percent of app developers said their goal was to maximize revenue, and 12 percent said their main goal was to improve the discoverability of their app.

?As the app economy keeps expanding, developers are trying to expand their presence and create multiple apps that can engage consumers in different ways,? Ms. McKelvey said.

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