Snowcrashing

The Iphone & Android App Business according to AdMob

Posted on 28. Aug, 2009 by Antonella Stellacci in Mobile Stores

AdMob is out with its latest Mobile Metrics Report, which is based on the usage behavior found on various applications and web sites across its ad network. For the month of July,  AdMob decided to spice up its network data with survey results from 1,117 users of iPhone, iPod touch and Android devices.

The key findings of the survey have had the blogosphere go ah and oh about the potential App Store business.  What are those key findings?

In AdMob words:

• Android and iPhone users download approximately 10 new apps a month, while iPod touch owners download an average of 18 per month
• More than 90 percent of Android and iPhone OS users browse and search for apps directly on their mobile device instead of their computer
• Upgrading from the lite version was the top reason given when users were asked what drives them to purchase a paid app
• iPhone and iPod touch users are twice as likely to purchase paid apps than Android users.
• Users who regularly download paid apps spend approximately $9 on an average of five paid downloads per month

From there, the math seems easy: as GigaOm points out, there are some $200 million worth of applications sold in Apple’s iPhone store every month, or about $2.4 billion a year.

Why I don’t buy it?

-Users surveied are a skewed sample who had to have downloaded at least one free app.

-Distribution of free vs paid apps: is there a report showing what’s the breakdown for the AppStore and Android? Without it, it’s hard to tell if Android users are really less inclined to buying premium apps than the AppStore customers.

-Payment Method: it’s a no-brainer for an AppStore user to go through the payment process, all you have to do is login into your iTunes account. For Android users on the other hand the purchase is much more “conscious” .

-Does this sound like a reliable claim? “Users who regularly download paid apps spend approximately $9 on an average of five paid downloads per month”. Every month? Maybe users who participated to the survey and/or who download AdMob apps are more engaged/addicted than the average user. Others have questioned the reliability of this claim.

-What type of applications were selected for the survey? Surely some categories will have more rabid fans than others: game users might download a new game every few days. But if you’re after utility apps or business ones, why would you download a replica of what you have, every few weeks?

-The “Freemium” model or “cheap is here to stay” claim. Respondents said that their number one reason for purchasing an application was because they tried and liked a free version. This might back up developers’ cries for a demo capability on the App Store. Or it might be again a consequence of the skewed sample of users: those most likely to answer a survey, maybe are also the ones more inclined to use free apps first.

Tags: AdMob Report, Android Store, iPhone App Store, Mobile Stores