Android and iPhone now hog 91 percent of mobile OS market share

CAMBRIDGE, USA: In its newly released February MobileSTAT, Jumptap, the leader in targeted mobile advertising, revealed that Android and iOS together make up 91 percent of the mobile OS market. Based on data from the Jumptap network of more than 95 million monthly users, both operating systems reached new heights in January; Android hit 58.8 percent and iOS reached 32.2 percent market share respectively.

Blackberry, on the other hand, sunk to a record low of 6.7 percent. The data nicely compliments Nielsen’s recent report, showing 89 percent of smartphones that were acquired in Q4 2011 were Android or iOS, and only 6 percent were Blackberry. Jumptap predicts that Blackberry, Symbian and Windows have an uphill battle just to retain OS market share in 2012.

“With Google activating 850,000 mobile devices daily, it’s no surprise that Android has continued to outpace every other OS on the market,” said Paran Johar, chief marketing officer, Jumptap. “What advertisers should take away from this data is the importance of advertising cross-platform. Both the Android and iOS operating systems continue to grow while the remaining competitors represent only a fraction of the market.

Additional February MobileSTAT findings
Exponential Tablet Growth: The launch of the Kindle Fire has helped fuel exponential tablet growth in the last few months. Overall tablet traffic on the Jumptap network has increased over 50 percent since December. In that same time period, Kindle Fire has grown from holding a 4 percent share of tablet traffic to a 33 percent share. Jumptap predicts that 2012 will be a year of heavy competition between the iPad3 – launching in March – the Kindle Fire, and other low-cost tablets.

Top Picks for Mobile Devices of CES Attendees: The largest consumer electronics show in the world, CES, brought hundreds of the best and brightest in media and tech to Las Vegas -- and with them, their mobile devices. In analyzing the types of devices used in Las Vegas during the event vs. devices normally used in the area, the Jumptap February MobileSTAT found that Apple and Blackberry made the strongest showing. Additionally, iPad traffic increased 100 percent and Blackberry traffic increased 111 percent during the show. To no surprise, the report also found that tech-focused CES attendees were less likely to use feature phones as compared to Las Vegas locals.

All Politics is Mobile: Political candidates aren’t the only ones using mobile for the primaries. Mobile users in South Carolina took to their phones to check results of the state’s primary election on January 21. Significant spikes on the Jumptap network ‘News Channel’ occurred on the day of the primary resulting in a 35 percent increase in traffic at 7 p.m. ET when the polls closed, and a 40 percent spike at 10 p.m. when results were announced.