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Both platforms experienced considerable gains in terms of overall video viewing volume, with 30 percent growth in viewing of online videos on non-PC/Mac devices occurring between Q3 2012 and Q4 2012 alone. Apple’s strong lead is dues to its dominance in the tablet market, where FreeWheel says Android has yet to field a competitor that can truly make a dent in its overall share. The iPad accounted for 24 percent of the overall iOS total, with the iPhone taking 30 percent and iPod touch devices accounting for the remaining 6 percent of its overall share. FreeWheel didn’t break out Android smartphone vs. tablet traffic, and instead just noted that tablet traffic was minimal.
Apple
stretched its lead over Android considerably between Q3 2012 and Q4
2012, which would suggest that the iPhone 5 in particular had a strong
impact on mobile viewing. Apple’s growth could also include traffic
spikes from the new iPad mini and iPad, though those were in constrained
supply for much of the last quarter of 2o12, which means it’s possible
we’ll see more share growth through the first quarter of this year to
reflect continued strong iPad sales.For Apple, owning a majority share of mobile video views as the trend towards viewing on tablets and smartphones continues to spike means that it has more influence over the type of content and advertising that gets shown, which should ensure that developers tailor those experiences for iOS first, and then for other platforms second. That’s yet another of the more subtle platform advantages that Apple maintains over other competing mobile players, which is often hard to quantify but gets reflected in user experience.
The upshot for Google is that there’s clearly a need to get an Android tablet to market that wins some share away from the iPad. While recent hardware like the Nexus line of devices and Kindle Fire HD have done a lot to improve the Android tablet experience, judging by online video viewership, nothing yet is truly cracking Apple’s stranglehold in terms of user engagement.
