69% of all mobile devices on the Millennial Media mobile network were touchscreen interface in October 2011, representing 6% month-on-month growth and 44% year-on-year growth, according to [download page] the October 2011 Millennial Media Mobile Mix. Millennial insight indicates that touchscreen growth was largely tied to the increased popularity of smartphones and connected devices, although newly released feature phones are also utilizing touchscreen as an input method. Touch/QWERTY followed with 11% of the device input mix, down from 15% in September.
Smartphones and connected devices also contributed to a rise in impressions coming over a Wi-Fi network, which increased to 35% of the carrier mix in October.
Smartphone Share of Device Impressions Holds Steady
Smartphones accounted for 71% of all connected device impressions on the network, down slightly from 72% in September, but remaining far ahead of feature phones (15%) and connected devices (14%). Looking at operating system, 56% of impressions on the network were made by devices running the Android OS, while 28% ran the Apple iOS and RIM accounted for 13% share, all unchanged from the previous month. According to the report, Android has been the leading OS on the platform for 11 months.
Apple Retains Lead, but Samsung Closes In
Apple continued to be the leading device manufacturer on the Millennial network in October, representing 23.5% of all devices, virtually unchanged from 23% in September. The Apple iPhone also maintained the top mobile phone ranking, with 12.5% share, also essentially unchanged from September. Samsung, though, exhibited strong growth, rising 7% month-over-month to represent 17.2% of the devices, right behind HTC (18.1%). Samsung boasted 6 of the top 20 mobile phones for the month with a combined impression share of about 8%, with the Samsung Nexus S and Galaxy S both making their debut on the top 20 list. Meanwhile, Android devices represent 14 of the top 20 mobile phones in October, with a combined impression share of roughly 24%.
Music & Entertainment Supplants Games as Top App Category
Music and entertainment applications took over the number 1 application category position on the Millennial Media Network in October, accounting for approximately 50% of the impression share mix and beating out games, which had been the number 1 category for over a year. Communications apps remained in the 3rd spot, while mobile social networking apps took the #4 spot, down from the #2 ranking in October 2010. Weather apps also fared worse compared to the previous year, taking the #9 ranking after being in 6th spot in October 2010. By contrast, news apps rose to the #5 ranking from #9, while health and fitness apps moved up to #7 from the 10th spot in October 2010.
Other Findings
- Android represented half of Millennial Media’s application platform mix, ranked by ad spend. Music and entertainment apps led all Android application categories, although productivity and tools applications experienced a 14% month-over-month increase.
- Apple represented 40% of the application platform mix in October. Gaming applications moved to the #2 app category for Apple, behind music and entertainment, yet still grew 19% month-over-month.
