Newcomers to the smartphone world may think that Apple invented the whole mobile app downloading thing, but it had in fact been going on for years – and thrives on other platforms too.
Of course when it comes to the sheer number of the apps available, Apple rules the roost with its store bulging with zillions of apps, but with smartphones predicted to overtake feature phones in the U.S. by 2011, it’s a burgeoning market on all platforms.
Wha’appening?
To find out wha’g’wan, research firm Nielsen recently launched its ‘App Playbook’ study, quizzing over 4,200 people who had downloaded an application in the past 30 days.
Here’s their key stats:
- 21% of American wireless subscribers have a smartphone at Q4 2009, up from 19% in the previous quarter and significantly higher than the 14% at the end of 2008
- 14% of mobile subscribers have downloaded an app in the last 30 days
- Average number of apps: Smartphone: 22, Feature phone: 10
- BlackBerry: 10
- iPhone:37
- Android: 22
- Palm: 14
- Windows Mobile: 13
Facebook, weather and maps
Facebook was found to be the most used app on iPhones, Blackberrys and all other smartphones except the Android platform, where it was pushed into second place behind Google Maps.Perhaps Android users are too busy going places to be chatting on social networking sites?
Here’s a breakdown by platform.
[Nielsen]
Forgive my ignorance, but what’s the difference between a Smartphone and a Feature Phone?
It’s still a bit open to debate, but basically:
http://blog.itechtalk.com/2010/feature-phones-vs-smartphones/
Thanks for that. That’s made it clear(or at least clearer) to me.