Apple may have to fend off a number of competitors for the iPhone’s crown of smartphone dominance, but one area where there seems to be comparatively little competition is the roost ruled by the iPod touch.
Based upon a report by Flurry, a San Francisco mobile analytics company, there are 24 million iPod touches in use, which represent 40% of the total 58 million iPhone OS devices, according to Gigaom’s Om Malik.
After all, the iPod touch has one big advantage over the iPhone: No wireless carrier commitment, which adds more than $2,000 to the purchase price over the 2-year contract. Otherwise, it’s functionally the same as the iPhone, sans camera (which is rumored to appear with a future hardware refresh), for a one-time price. With a virtual explosion of free or cheap Wi-Fi almost everywhere, the iPod touch begins to look like a very enticing alternative that helps boost the iPhone OS market share.
The mobile advertising company AdMob (currently being acquired by Google), reported back in October that the iPod touch accounted for 9.8% of all request for applications and websites that embed their advertising scripts. The iPhone, by comparison, has 22.4% of such requests. But the AdMob results mostly mirror those of Flurry, and point to an increasing user base for the iPod touch.
“It’s important to remember that the iPhone’s flank is protected by an often-overlooked, powerful fighting brand: iPod touch,” the Flurry report released today explains. “As all industry eyes look to the iPhone, the iPod touch is quietly building a loyal base among the next generation of iPhone users, positioning Apple to corner the smartphone market not only today, but also tomorrow.”
Malik goes on to state that the inclusion of a camera on the iPod touch could really push it into the stratosphere, not only for use as a digital camera to take snapshots (and presumably, video) but also as a secondary role as a barcode scanner, for instance.
Also in the iPod touch’s favor: Gaming. Flurry notes that Social Networking and Gaming are among the biggest categories for iPod touch use, which have already started to erode the lead held by specialist game device makers such as Nintendo.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Related posts:
- Apple Has “2 or 3 Year Lead” in Mobile Internet Computing with iPhone and iPod touch
- User Analysis of iPhone and iPod Touch
- Are The iPhone/iPod Touch The Reason For Recent Slump In PSP/DS Sales?
- Apple Releases iOS 4 for iPhone, iPod touch
- New Device Turns Your iPhone/iPod touch into a Universal Remote
