Recently came across some interesting data that, rolled together, shows how some mobile application development trends are shaping up.
A few factoids with spin:
- Smartphones are big in the US (not exactly news). In 2012 there were 270M smartphone subscribers, indicating most people have a smartphone and some people clearly have more than one.
- The iPhone was a rocketship when it was released, but it pales in comparison to the iPad. iPad adoption grew at 3x the pace of the iPhone. Mikey Likes It!
- Price matters: total Android phone adoption rates have been 6x iPhone rates. This might be partly attributed to the limited number of carriers who have iPhone deals with Apple.
- Within 3 years tablets will outsell PCs. What will that mean to Microsoft? (Hint: Wintel is no longer the dominant platform.)
- Total Android market share on smartphones was 74% in 2012. Again, price and choice are important drivers in consumer behavior.