Android got off to an admittedly rocky start when it first debuted on the T-Mobile G1. Since then the OS has proved to be popular and a strong contender in the marketplace. More phones are being introduced that run Android than most other operating systems right now.
Android is also starting to gain ground on the class leading iPhone for apps according to Flurry. According to the research firm the iPhone owns 79% of the applications market on a platform basis while Android holds 15% of the market and Blackberry holds a mere 3%.
The iPhone has 74% of the developers working on its platform compared to 22% of them working on Android and a scant 3% working on Blackberry apps. The company also says that Android users are more loyal than those using the iPhone are. Application user retention on Android devices is 83% within 30 days and only 63% for iPhone users after the same period. Android consumers used their applications significantly more frequently than their iPhone counterparts. 37% of iPhone consumers who downloaded applications used those applications fewer than 5 times per month (”superlight users”) with Android having only 11% in the superlight usage category. Toward the other end of the spectrum, 35% percent of Android users can be defined as “heavy users,” using applications more than 50 times per month, compared to only 15% on the iPhone.
Does this mean Android users are more sophisticated than iPhone users? After all most people I know, that have an iPhone, is because it’s trendy. They don’t even really use the thing other than as a phone and texting device.
