Application developers and advertisers continue to make more money from iOS compared to Android, a recent report has revealed. This is attributed to the iPad, which is one of the most popular mobile devices in the market. There has been an increase in the number of Android phones that are shipped across the globe and this is evident in ad the latest ad numbers. According to a study by Opera, ad impressions that are served to Android smartphones are way beyond the ones on iPhones. During the second quarter of 2013, smartphone traffic on these two platforms was equal. Each of them had 30% of the traffic. However, things changed in the last quarter and Android had 36% while Apple had 29%.
In spite of the obvious gains that Android has managed to make over the last few years, iPhones continue to be the biggest source of income for publishers and app makers. During the second quarter of 2014, iPhones ad revenue was about 36.4% while Android provided 27.76% of the revenue. In the last quarter, iPhones generated 40% of income while Android offered 30%.
Apple’s iPad has managed to stay ahead of both Android smartphones and tablets in regard to revenue and traffic. IPads accounted for nearly 10.6% of traffic and 12% of revenue in the fourth quarter of 2013. iOS devices combined accounted for 43.3$ of all the ads that served during this quarter and they brought in 55.7% of the total revenue collected from mobile devices. On the other hand, Android devices accounted for 37.7% and 31% of the revenue during this period.
It is evident that Android has made significant gains in monetizing its smartophones and tablets and its traffic share. However, iOS has managed to maintain the top position across every mobile platform in regard to monetization and traffic share. The future looks bright for Android and its revenue share is expected to grow even further in the next few years. Despite this growth, it will be difficult for Android to overtake Apple in cross-platform monetization. Apple had a lead in the tablet market and its iPad is one of the most popular devices in the market. Android may surprise analysts in the future but this is not expected to happen in 2014.
Windows has made noticeable gains in the smartphone market and Windows Phone shipments now surpass Blackberry in both Europe and the United States. Despite this, Apple’s iPod Touch model generated about 4.1% of traffic and brought in 2.85% of the total revenue. This is a sign that the Apple brand is still strong.
