Android beats iOS in second quarter ad race, iPhone still top device

August 12, 2011 By Andrew Couts

As expected, more mobile ads from Millennial Media's network are served to devices running Android. But Apple's iPhone remains the No. 1 ad target in the mobile world.

Further solidifying its dominance as the No. 1 mobile operating system, Android secured 53 percent of all ads served to mobile devices during the second quarter, according to the 50th report from Millennial Media, the largest independent ad network.

Apple’s iOS came in second with 27 percent share of the market, but the discrepancy between the ads served to the two operating systems is primarily due to the fact that there are simply far more Android phones available than there are iPhones. More than two-thirds of the top 20 devices that made Millennial’s list run Android, compared to only four iPhones (original iPhone, 3G, 3G S and iPhone 4) available.

When looking at individual handsets, however, Apple remains king, with 16.2 percent of all ads served to mobile phones going to an iPhone. The iPhone has held strong as the number one ad target since 2009. Coming in second is Research In Motion‘s BlackBerry Curve, with 5.6 percent. The Motorola Droid, Samsung Nexus S and BlackBerry Bold 2 round out the top five devices, with between about 3 and 2 percent ads being served to those devices.

For mobile devices overall (not just smartphones), Apple also holds the leader spot, with 30.8 percent of ads going to iOS devices. Since 2009, Apple has grown more than any other company, with a jump in device usage clocking in at about 20 percent.

Contributing to Apple’s lead are the iPod touch and iPad, which rank as the top two connected (non-smartphone) devices. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is the third most-connected device, helping Samsung rank as the number two mobile device manufacturer overall, with nearly 15 percent of the market. Making up the top five are RIM with 11.8 percent, HTC with 9.92 percent and Motorola with 9.14 percent.

Some other notable stats from the report include: 60 percent of devices reached by Millennial’s network are touchscreen, up from only 33 percent two years ago; only 11 percent of devices that receive ads have a non-QWERTY keypad; devices with a QWERTY keyboard have dropped from 36 percent in 2009 to just 14 percent today.

The number of smartphones on the market grew by 8 percent quarter-over-quarter. Connected devices enjoyed a 13 percent quarter-over-quarter growth.

Showing 4 comments

AtSun at 7:29am 5th November 2011 I love apple products but have an android phone which I actually think is technically better. It syncs via the google cloud all my calendars, google docs, Facebook, and data seamlessly to all devices for FREE!!!! And it has been 4 G for a year! Apple makes this big deal about the iCloud, and pop up notifications, and the ability to sync wirelessly. Google/Android and even Palm has had this for 3 years. If Apple users got over the hype and actually looked at the products fairly, they would realize how behind the iPhone has fallen to to Google products. And no, I am not an Apple hater, I have an iPod, MacBook Pro, iTouch and have had apple computers since 1986. I love Apple products but they are ruthless bastards that want to nickel and dime everyone for services like the iCloud. I thought it was a bad decision for Google to make apps for Apple when Apple has been so ruthless to everyone else. Apple is making the same mistake as it did in the 80's and 90's when it got dominated by Microsoft. They are getting greedy with practices like only giving ATT the iPhone till recently, not allowing its apps to be used anywhere else, being restrictive with iTunes. Yes they are innovators but are not the best to customers. Google made Android open source, and there is a new Android phone coming out every month, Apple has a new phone twice a year at best. Eventually Android will become the world standard because its a quality product and someone superior to iOS.
jameschanga at 7:58pm 4th November 2011 classic how the article leads with "Further solidifying its dominance as the No. 1 mobile operating system" and then later notes how the iPhone is kicking everyone's butt. Amazes me how certain segments of the tech media just can't bring themselves to admit how dominant Apple is, or that they hands-down have the best devices. This isn't iOS vs Android. It's hardware dominance now. Software dominance will follow.
1. Ian Bell at 9:18pm 4th November 2011 There are more Android devices out there therefore the Android OS has more user installs. From a SINGLE phone perspective, Apple is winning.
Samrat at 3:06pm 12th August 2011 Apple rocks!