A new study by the team at web video network provider Ooyala has found that Apple iOS users are still dominating the video viewing space. According to IDC statistics, Apple users account for 67 percent of mobile traffic viewing times spent on web videos compared to Android devices with 33 percent of the market.
Apple dominates the space despite the fact that 68 percent of all smartphone shipments are Google Android- based compared to Apple’s 19 percent market share.
While the numbers are skewed in Apple’s favor, it should be noted that Ooyala examined “time spent” viewing videos and not the number of videos actually viewed. The study may show that Apple users simply choose to watch longer video. The study could also show that Google Android users choose to navigate the internet in different ways compared to iPhone users. For example, Google Android users may visit Facebook more than YouTube or spend more time using Google Maps than YouTube. The study unfortunately does not delve into overall mobile usage statistics.
Another theory for the skewed Apple numbers is that Android sales have actually been much weaker than originally reported. Google Android manufacturers report shipped units, while Apple shares information pertains to actual device sales. In the recent Apple versus Samsung lawsuit, the tech firms were ordered to reveal actual sales numbers. While Samsung shipped 62 million smartphones, its sales were listed at only 21 million units from mid-2010 to mid 2012.
The skewed shipment numbers could mean that Apple’s 19 percent share of the mobile market in North America is also incorrect. In fact, based on Samsung’s shipped versus sales figures, Apple could control closer to a third of the US and Canadian markets.
Regardless of actual sales figures, one fact appears to be constant among mobile traffic studies: Apple users continue to absorb internet hours at a much faster rate than Google Android users. That fact is not a good sign for Google considering the company released Android free of charge as a means to buoy its internet usage statistics across all of its platforms.
