In Europe, Apple’s mobile operating system (iOS) market is twice the size of Android, when accounting for mobiles, tablets and other connected media devices, according to new research from comScore.
comScore has released the results of an EU5 (UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy) study of media tablet owners, based on data from the comScore MobiLens service.
The report includes comScore’s first publicly available data showing demographics and other characteristics of users of connected media devices, such as the iPad, iPod Touch and devices running on Google’s Android software.
Initial research indicates that Apple’s iOS platform, which resides on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, has a combined platform reach of 28.9 million users in the five European markets, outreaching the Android platform by 116 percent.
“comScore is excited to offer insights about the comprehensive mobile ecosystem, including connected media devices, such as the iPad,” said Jeremy Copp, comScore vice president of mobile in Europe. “This new data set is part of our MobiLens service and enables our clients to understand the detailed demographic and behavioural attributes of connected media device users. This of course has significant implications for the media and developer communities as they consider how best to reach their audience on all types of connected devices.”
Devices Running on Apple iOS Used by Nearly 29 Million in EU5
comScore’s analysis of the unduplicated audience reach of the Apple iOS platform across iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches revealed a combined iOS installed base of 28.9 million users across the five markets analyzed (UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy).
With 16.1 million users across these five markets, the installed base of iPhones by far exceeded that of iPod Touches and iPads. The combined 28.9 million iOS users is 116 percent greater than the 13.4 million combined Android OS installed base, which includes users of both phones and connected media devices running on Google’s operating system, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Apple iPad Ownership Extends Beyond Apple Loyalists
The research in Europe also suggests that iPad ownership extends well beyond Apple’s most loyal consumers. Although a perception may exist that iPad owners tend to be those with a very strong affinity for Apple products, an analysis of the mobile devices of iPad owners indicates that may not be the case.
Though iPhone users are well represented among iPad owners in Europe, a substantial percentage of this group uses other phones as their primary mobile devices.
Apple ranks as the most heavily represented OEM among iPad owners, with its OEM share of 27.2 percent particularly higher than its share among all smartphone subscribers (20.6 percent). Nokia mobile phone users account for the second highest percentage of iPad owners at 26.4 percent, but this number is well below its overall smartphone market share of 41.7 percent.
Meanwhile, LG, Motorola, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson are all overrepresented among iPad owners as compared to their respective shares of the smartphone market. In addition, 5.9 percent of iPad users had Android phones across the five European markets.
Index = % of iPad Owners/% of Smartphone Owners x 100; Index of 100 indicates average representation
“This data clearly illustrates that the Apple ecosystem extends far beyond the iPhone, but it also shows that there is significant penetration of iPad users amongst owners of other handset manufacturer’s devices,” added Copp. “Blackberry users are the only segment of users to buck this trend and are significantly underrepresented among iPad owners, which is perhaps a signal of brand loyalty as they awaited the launch of the Blackberry Playbook.”
Apple iPad Ownership Skews to 25-34 Year Old Males
Across the five European markets analyzed more than 62 percent of iPad owners were male, skewing well above the average gender spilt for mobile owners. The age profile of European iPad users indicated the heaviest skew toward 25-34 year olds (23.4 percent) in relation to the total mobile audience (17.3 percent).
iPads also exhibited an above average skew in the 18-24 year old age segment. However, this demographic profile was similar to that of the smartphone user base, indicating that the advanced mobile capabilities rather than the device itself might be primary driver behind this age profile.
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