AdMob Mobile Metrics

November 2009 Mobile Metrics Report

For this month’s report we review some of the trends we have seen throughout 2009.  We discuss the rise of smartphones, increased WiFi usage, and the continued growth of the iPhone and Android platforms.

Apple is on track to sell over 40 million iPhone and iPod touches this year worldwide.  Although the US remains by far the largest market for Apple devices, we’ve seen faster growth of Apple users from outside the US.  In November, 50% of the unique iPhone and iPod touches that requested an AdMob ad were outside the US, compared to only 39% in January 2009.  The chart below shows user growth for the Top 10 countries by Apple device in the AdMob network.

The US and Canada show slower growth, although that’s likely due to a larger base of users to start the year.  Page 4 of the report shows the distribution of iPhone and iPod touch users by country.  These devices clearly have global appeal, as the recent launch in South Korea showed.

Keep in mind the chart above only represents devices that requested an ad on a given day.  Mobile operator KT claimed to have signed up 90k iPhone subscribers since the launch on Nov 28th, and our data certainly supports rapid adoption in the country.

Last December iPod touch traffic doubled the day after Christmas.  We’ll see what the effect of all of the new devices is this year soon.  Happy Holidays!

Mike