Fueled by the rapid adoption of tablets and their increased availability, non-phone connected devices (e.g. tablets, e-readers) are accounting for an increasing share of connected device ad impressions on the Millennial Media platform, according to the network’s November Mobile Mix report. In Q3, 1 in 5 impressions came from non-phone connected devices, up only slightly from Q2’s 19%, but marking a 6% point upward swing from Q3 2011. Smartphones continued to lead the device mix, generating 3 in 4 impressions in Q3, inching up from 74% the previous quarter and from 72% in Q3 2011. The share growth of smartphones and non-phone connected devices comes at the expense of feature phones, which dropped to just 5% share of impressions in Q3, down from 14% a year earlier.
Android Share of Impressions Grows Q-O-Q
Looking at operating systems, 52% of impressions on the Millennial Media network were made by devices running the Android OS in Q3 2012, up 6% points from 46% in Q2. The share held by iOS devices was flat at 34%. BlackBerry’s share tumbled in Q3, down from 15% in Q2 to just 8%, not far ahead of Windows (5%).
Other Findings:
- Apple devices represented 31% of the impression share in Q3, continuing to lead all manufacturers. Samsung followed at 24% share, up from 22% in Q2. RIM dropped from the 3rd to the 4th spot, down from 13.5% share to 7.9%, falling behind HTC (8%), but remaining ahead of Motorola (5.9%).
- The Apple iPhone was the top mobile phone by impression share in Q2 (16%), followed by the Samsung Galaxy S (4.9%). The BlackBerry Curve, which had been ranked second in Q2, dropped to third (3.4%).
- Games led all mobile application categories in Q3, as in Q2 and Q1. Entering the top 10 in Q3 were productivity and tools (#5) and dating (#10). Communications and sports both moved up two spots in the rankings (to #3 and #6, respectively), while weather and news apps both dropped 2 spots (to #8 and #9, respectively). In the days leading up to the US presidential election, election-related apps on the platform saw a 32% increase in impressions.
- The top 3 tablets on the Millennial Media platform, ranked by share of impressions, were: Apple iPad; Samsung Galaxy Tab; and Amazon Kindle Fire. Each was ranked in the top 20 among all mobile devices.
- iOS 5 and iOS 6 both experienced rapid adoption on the platform during their first month, though iOS 6 impression volume was far higher.
About the Data: The device mix smartphone data does not include what could be considered smartphones running proprietary operating systems, such as Samsung Instinct, LG Vu.
