Survey

Apple seen testing new App Store ranking scheme based on user ratings

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Ever since Apple in February 2012 bought Chomp, an app discovery engine, and subsequently killed both its Android and iOS apps, the rumor-mill has been abuzz with the supposed improvements to the App Store discovery stemming from the acqui-hire.

Disregarding the occasional tweaks to the App Store search algorithm here and there, the experience of discovering popular software beyond the apps Apple exposes on the main App Store pages remains a very tedious affair.

To put it perfectly bluntly, it often feels like finding a needle in the haystack. But according to a new report out Friday, things could soon improve as the company's apparently been experimenting with new algorithms for iTunes and App Store rankings...

Android a frequent favorite in discount stores – until iPhone 5C arrives

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 23, 2013

Discount shoppers are more apt to buy an Android smartphone than an Apple iPhone. Indeed, Android handsets are three times as likely to be sold through discounters such as Walmart and Costco than Apple's smartphone, new research indicates. The numbers are just the latest from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), providing insight into where and by whom Apple and Android devices are purchased...

Apple and Google push Nintendo and Sony into No. 3 spot in mobile gaming

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 22, 2013

We've seen how mobile killed traditional music, draining sales from retail CD stores. Console games appear headed for the same fate. Worldwide revenue for handheld console makers fell during the second quarter of this year, pushing companies like Nintendo and Sony into third place behind the first-place Apple App Store and No. 2 Android-based Google Play.

According to a joint report by research firm IDC and app analytics company App Annie, consumers spending on mobile games in the Google Play store rose during the quarter as Android games picked up 1.6 percent of the market between the first and second quarter of 2013. The Google Play store has taken steps to attract more gaming dollars by tailoring its service for developers...

IDC: China’s iPad market share slashed by strong home-grown competition

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 21, 2013

In every analysis listing market share, there is that mysterious 'Other' category which lumps together all the lesser-known players. Now comes word 'Other' is making a name for itself, as the Apple iPad's share of the increasingly important China market was almost cut in half during the second quarter.

Researcher IDC said Tuesday Apple's tablet market share in China fell to 28 percent during the second quarter of 2013, down from its usual level above 50 percent. Some 46 percent of tablets shipped to China were made by 'Other' tablet brands, often low-cost Android devices, according to the research firm...

Survey: iPhone 5C could give Apple lead in China

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

One Wall Street analyst has some comforting words for Apple fans watching the iPhone in China submerged under the waves of cheap Android smartphones: wait until the iPhone 5C arrives. Apple's highly-expected budget handset dubbed the iPhone 5C could pole-vault the Apple brand into first place, overcoming Samsung and other Google-powered devices.

The key to giving the iPhone the lead in China: the right price and wide availability. A Morgan Stanley survey of Chinese smartphone consumers suggests an iPhone costing about $486 and offered by China Mobile could give Apple's marketshare a double-digit boost...

Survey: Apple’s iPhone grabs 3 times as many Samsung owners

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

A new survey of iPhone and Samsung buyers includes both confirmation of what we suspected, as well as a few surprises. Topping the list: 20 percent of new iPhone owners previously used an Android smartphone, or one out of each five iPhone owners.

The South Korean Android handset wasn't capable of doing much damage to Apple, however - just seven percent of new Samsung owners switched from the iPhone. Overall, Apple does well at retaining iPhone owners, its largest group of buyers having owned a previous version of the smartphone.

For Samsung, its strength is in attracting other Android handset owners and first-time smartphone buyers, according to the survey released Monday...

Flurry: moms use iPads, singles use iPhones

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated February 25, 2018

Some interesting research is out, indicating that some iOS users tend toward the iPhone, while others are more likely tapping away at the iPad. While mobile advertising analytics firm Flurry gathered the data to help companies better target their apps and ads, the findings are intriguing for us all.

Of the various 'personas' tracked, so-called 'Value Shoppers' (those bargain-hunting souls) are most strongly attached to their iPhones, while 'Pet Owners' prefer the iPad. Overall, 72 percent of iOS owners tend to use the iPhone most, while the iPad garners 28 percent of the mobile iDevice users...

Apple TV owners twice as likely to cut the cord than couch potatoes

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 15, 2013

So who's going to cut the cord? Like-minded individuals like yourself - the types who own a Roku, an Apple TV or a similar connected TV device - are twice as likely to ditch the cable compared to broadband users who don’t connect their TV to the Internet.

That's the gist of a new research into the habits of owners of so-called connected boxes. In addition to set-top boxes, game consoles and Blu-ray players, the definition also includes folks who connect their laptop to a TV with a cable. Unfortunately, cutting the cord is easier said than done...

Gartner makes it official: smartphones are outselling dumb phones

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Smartphones - once the preserve for geeky first adopters - are now the norm. You notice the change on the street, on television and now with such traditional research firms as Gartner. Sales of smartphones in the second quarter reached 51.8 percent, compared to an astounding 21 percent decline in feature phones, or dumb phones as they're also called, according to the researcher. At the same time, the Asia/Pacific region marked the highest smartphone growth, reaching to 74 percent...

Survey finds 52% of developers are working on iOS 7-only app updates

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

Last month, we asked our readers if they would pay for iOS 7 app updates on apps they already owned. With all of the UI changes and new features Apple's added in the software, developers are having to spend an enormous amount of time and resources to bring their apps up to speed.

Looking at the comments in that post, though, the answer was clearly a resounding "no." In fact, a lot of readers claimed that they'd rather stay on iOS 6, than update to iOS 7 and have to repay for their favorite apps. Well, if this new survey is any indication, that may not be an option...

Forrester: the iPhone is still most-used smartphone

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 1, 2013

Yet another study throws a spotlight on the differences in how Apple and Android smartphone owners use their devices, with a heavy emphasis on 'use'. Both in apps and overall smartphone usage, iPhone owners rank higher than owners of Android handsets.

After surveying both U.S. and European smartphone owners, researchers not only found owners of the Apple device more frequently use apps, but conduct more tasks suitable to smartphones, such as browsing the Internet. This despite Android's advantage both in number of handsets out there and in sales.

The dichotomy just reinforces our Android in a Drawer theory, which says many owners of the Google-powered devices see their handsets as just a spiffier version of dumb feature phones, ignoring most of what makes smartphones smart...

Google’s Play store passes App Store downloads, Apple rules revenues

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

It may not reach the importance of the 'best-filling' versus 'tastes great' soda debate, but new numbers add fuel to the ongoing question of what's most important in measuring app store supremacy: downloads or revenue. Both those rooting for sheer demand as well as ultimate revenue figures found something to cheer about Wednesday.

Analytics company App Annie is out with second-quarter numbers showing the Android-based Google Play store had ten percent more download's that Apple's iOS App Store. However, Apple - which prides itself on being the Tiffany of technology - raked in 2.3 times the revenue.

The details after the break...