Today we released Mobile Metrics for February, our monthly look inside the trends we see in the AdMob Network. This month we took a closer look at the top RIM, Symbian, and Windows Mobile devices as application stores have been all the rage recently.
Until recently, getting placed on a carrier deck used to be the only distribution point of scale for games and other mobile applications. But the app stores are rapidly changing that. Below are estimates on the number of mobile Web users from Nielsen Mobile Media Marketplace Q4’08 for the top four mobile operators, and our estimates on number of mobile Web users on Apple and RIM devices.
Apple announced last week that they had sold 30 million combined iPhones and iPod touches. Our data suggests that about 75 percent of those are sold in the US and if you make the assumption that two-thirds of the combined iPhones and iPod touches use the mobile Web or applications that gets you to a total of 15 million mobile Web users for Apple in the US. This estimate might be a bit high, but you get the idea.
Regardless of the exact numbers, it’s likely that with the growth of the iPhone and iPod touch the Apple App Store is, or will be soon, the largest single distribution point for mobile content. When Blackberry opens its application store, it should have access to about as many mobile Web users as there are on T-Mobile’s network in the US. Although Windows Mobile has a good sized installed base, it’s unclear if their legacy devices will be able to access Windows Marketplace when it launches as their app store might require OS Version 6.5.
And when you start to consider the carriers are likely confined geographically to the US while device manufacturers and Operating Systems such as Apple, RIM, and Andriod can reach across the globe, the above chart is set to become even more skewed in favor of the mobile OS.
In just a couple short months, application stores may turn the tables on the on the long held operator deck distribution channel as the leading way to get mobile content. We’ll see what the future brings.
Mike F.
Product Marketing
