GigaOM » Chitika Insights

1 month later, iOS 6 adoption hits 61 percent in U.S., Canada

Erica Ogg — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:03:39 +0000

A month after Apple’s official release of iOS 6, it’s been installed on roughly 61 percent of possible devices in the U.S. and Canada according to new data collected by Chitika Insights. That is only slightly better than the 50-percent adoption rate that iOS 6 hit after just two weeks in the wild, suggesting that users installing or upgrading to iOS 6 is slowing somewhat. But still, it’s the fastest uptake of any mobile operating system upgrade.

Chitika regularly checks in on Apple’s mobile OS adoption by checking how many devices using iOS 6 have accessed its vast online ad network.

By comparison, just about a quarter of Android users had upgraded to the latest version of the software as of the beginning of October, roughly 12 months after its release.

While iOS 6 adoption growth has plateaued somewhat in the last week, don’t expect that number to remain stagnant very much longer. Apple is expected to introduce a smaller iPad on Tuesday and potentially a new 9.7-inch iPad as well, both of which could have a significant effect on iOS 6 usage.

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iOS 6 adoption by device: iPhone leads, iPod touch trails

Erica Ogg — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:52:14 +0000

Apple’s iOS 6 operating system has been available for just under two weeks and the uptake by users has been fairly rapid: after two days it was already loaded on a quarter of all iOS devices. But new data generated by Chitika Inisights on Tuesday shows that it’s not just iPhone owners that are upgrading, but iPad and iPod touch owners too. Below is a breakdown of the data, showing which group of device owners upgraded between the release of iOS 6 on Sept. 19 through Monday, Oct. 1.

The data was generated from millions of impressions from iOS devices accessing web sites that are part of Chitika’s mobile advertising network in the U.S. and Canada:

As the chart shows, about 60 percent of iPhone owners have already upgraded to or are using iOS 6. iPad owners were close behind, with about 45 percent upgrading in the first week and a half. iPod touch owners, meanwhile, were least likely of the group to upgrade right away, with just under 40 percent downloading and installing iOS 6.

One major factor in iPod touch upgrades is compatibility: only the fourth- and fifth-generation models can run iOS 6. Chitika’s theory is that people are less likely to upgrade iPod hardware than iPhones and iPads because the former are not subsidized by carriers who offer discount incentives for upgrading.

Still, even though iPod touch owners were the least likely to upgrade among iOS device owners, iOS 6 is already the most popular iOS version in use. Thirty-nine percent have moved on to iOS 6, while the next-most popular, iOS 5.1, comes in at 31 percent.

This quick software transition is one of the most attractive features of iOS to app makers: rapid uptake of new operating systems means developers don’t have to spend as much time supporting older OSes. Instead they can focus on the latest software. As a comparison, Android 4.0 was released in October 2011, and as of Tuesday, about 25 percent of devices were using 4.0 or later versions of the software.

This post was updated at 9:03 a.m. PT to include more recent Android upgrade data that was published today.

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Android tablets, iPads still see wide gap in mobile web use

Erica Ogg — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 22:11:58 +0000

If you thought the numbers showing Android tablet use pulling even with iPad in the U.S. from the Online Publishers Association that made the rounds earlier this week sounded a bit surprising, you’re not alone. The folks at Chitika Insights delved into their own mobile ad network for web usage data of iPads and Android tablets in the U.S. and found results that painted a different picture than the roughly 50/50 ownership market share does. The report will be published Thursday, but we got an early peek.

The OPA found in its report that in the U.S. iPad ownership had reached 52 percent market share, and various tablets running Android software had reached 51 percent. The numbers imply overlap in ownership since they don’t add up to 100 percent. But beyond merely owning one, which devices are the owners engaged with the most?

What Chitika found was that iPad users generate almost nine times more web traffic than Android tablet users. This is not a totally new insight — it’s been reported previously that iPad users interact with their mobile web browsers much more often than their Android tablet-owning counterparts — but Chitika checked very recent data, “hundreds of millions of impressions” between June 4 and June 10 on its mobile ad network, and found a still-wide gap between how iPads are used versus its competition.

Using a tablet’s browser isn’t the only way to evaluate whether said device is being used. It doesn’t, for example, account very well for devices like the Kindle Fire or the Nook, which are primarily e-readers. But it is one way. And for folks in the ad business, that does matter, as they try to figure out how to reach users on mobile devices.

According to Chitika: “This asymmetric Web traffic means that tablet ad optimization for the iPad should provide the greatest benefit, and take a priority over Android tablets.”

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New U.S. iPad activations move inland

Erica Ogg — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:00:40 +0000

Two months after the new iPad’s debut in the U.S, a study shows that the device is beginning to appear in a wider geographic footprint beyond mainly wealthier, coastal states. Last month Apple’s new iPad accounted for 9 percent of all iPad activations, and this month it’s up to 13.5 percent, according to new data from Chitika Insights published Thursday.

Similar to last month, Hawaii and California lead in new iPad activations, accounting for nearly 18 and 16 percent, respectively. But Nebraska is a surprise No. 3. A big part of that isn’t due to your regular gadget consumers, but one of the state’s public education initiatives, which includes a 1-to-1 iPad program for students, according to the report.

You can see the other top seven states (and a district) for new iPad activations in May in the chart below:

Credit: Chitika Insights

But it’s not just Nebraska. There are other mainly rural — and less populated — states whose citizens are also scooping up the latest iPad. According to Chitika:

Nebraska’s adoption numbers in this second month, in addition to high adoption rates in states like Virginia, West Virginia and Alabama, indicate that rural states cannot be broadly labeled as technology laggards. Those residents are now pushing technology trends, often in greater numbers than their East and West-coast counterparts, rather than following them.

This kind of trend is exactly what needs to happen for Apple to continue to grow its customer base. The company can’t just sell new iPhones and iPads every year or every other year to the same early adopter types. By expanding through new industries — education, healthcare, transportation, etc. — the iPad is bringing Apple as a company into new territories that the Mac, at least at this stage in its life, never could.

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