Android growth is here & units

You read a heap articles about Android devices and how they are gaining market share and how Apple should watch out. Well, I can’t imagine Apple loosing too much sleep but there is definately an increase in Android powered handsets.

AdMob just released a report that includes some great stats that gives a rough breakdown on the success of various different Android devices. Its important to note that the HTC and Motorola Droid phones have not penetrated the Australian market place yet. It will be interesting to see how the Australian marketplace responds to Android based software phones.

• HTC has taken an early lead, thanks to availability of three different devices.
• Motorola Droid launched on November 6 already represented 24 percent of all Android requests in AdMob’s network worldwide even though the device is available only in the US.
• Worldwide requests from Android devices increased 5.8 times since April 2009 in the AdMob network.
• In the US, Android has 20 percent share of smartphone traffic versus 7 percent in April 2009.
• The Motorola CLIQ generated 6% of Android traffic worldwide as on November 18th 2009 (not available in Australia).
• Worldwide requests from RIM devices increased 44 percent over the last six months in the AdMob network.

Its important to note that the iPhone and iPod Touch collectively accounted for about 33 percent of total requests up 6.9 percent for October / November. In US, the total share of Apple is about 35 percent, up 7.5 percent for the month.

Graphs:

Summer of Cricket on Nokia.com.au

Our Australian Summer of Cricket Ovi application is currently featured on the Nokia.com.au homepage.

The app includes the Australian International series against Pakistan & the West Indies. All forms of the game are covered – test matches, one day’s and the heart stopping Twenty20 matches.

Aussie Summer of Cricket… on Nokia

HOWZAT? Australian summer of cricket has arrived!

Lookout Mobile are proud to present the 2009/10 Australian Summer of Cricket Nokia app.

Summer of cricket homepage

The app includes the Australian International series against Pakistan & the West Indies. All forms of the game are covered – test matches, one day’s and the heart stopping Twenty20 matches.

This slick and user-friendly application includes live ball-by-ball coverage, full schedule of games and batting & bowling stats.

The app is now available via NOKIA OVI Store and can be downloaded on all Nseries, S40 & S60 devices.

Head to www.store.ovi.com to download the app.

Apple Smartphone Sales Grew 49.2% in 1 Year

Here’s a stat for you- in less than two and a half years on the market, Apple’s iPhone has managed nearly a fifth of the total global smartphone market, thanks to nearly 50 percent year-over-year growth in sales in the third quarter of 2009.

Who would have thought that it would take only 2 1/2 years for Apple’s iPhone to capture 17% of the smartphone market and reinvent the way third party software is priced, marketed and sold. 17% of the marketplace is a staggering figure.

New data released by research firm Gartner (12th Nov 2009) showed that the iPhone has taken a 17.1 percent share of the worldwide smartphone market in the three-month period ending in September. The report said Apple’s share is only expected to grow, with even stronger anticipated sales in the fourth quarter, thanks to expansion into China and the addition of new carriers in multiple countries.

It should be noted that other manufacturers are growing quite well compared to Apple’s 49.2% growth from the 3rd quarter of 2008 to the 3rd quarter of 2009. RIM matched nearly matched pace with 46.9% growth and 20.8% of the market. HTC (makers of Windows Mobile and Android phones) grew at a blistering 60.6% pace. The losers are Nokia with an anemic 4.4% growth and a loss of marketshare (down from 42.3% to 39.3%).

Its worth noting that ‘other’ mobile companies have slipped well behind the pack by dropping 8.2% to 13.1% in 3Q09. The big 5 mobile companies are racing ahead.

Smartphone Percentages

Sources: Appleinsider & Gartner

Google buy AdMob

This is massive!

“Google Inc. has shown which way it believes the winds are blowing by forking over $750 million (in stock) for mobile advertising firm AdMob, one of the Web giant’s largest acquisitions to date”. To me this demonstrates how quickly the mobile ad space has grown and for Google to pay $750 mill in stock, further demonstrates this progress.

As AdMob itself has described, the volume and effectiveness of mobile advertising has been skyrocketing over the last several years as more advanced smartphones have caught on, making it easier to deliver more kinds of graphical and text-based advertising to phone-toting consumers.

In a recent report, AdMob said that the number of mobile ads it served had increased nearly 540% from September 2007, to 10.2 billion per month from 1.6 billion. And as mobile phones morph further into pocket Internet devices, and consumers grow accustomed to performing online functions like search, gaming and instant messaging on their handsets, opportunities for advertising companies like Google will grow rapidly, analysts expect.

Google says the number of searches performed by smartphone users has increased by a factor of five over the last two years, led primarily by iPhone users and owners of Google Android phones. At least a dozen new Google-powered phones, such as last week’s launch of Verizon’s Droid, are expected to be released in the coming year.

Google have just stretched their powerful ad distribution network to new lengths. Again, this is a massive development in the mobile space and all I can say is “HOW EXCITING”.

Sources: LA Times, AdMob and Google

Google and AdMob Mobile Advertising Reach

Its no laughing matter!

Lookout Mobile are proud to announce that it will be building the 2010 International Comedy Festival iPhone application. We are looking forward to getting our teeth stuck into this project and can’t wait to work with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival team.

2010 MICF Title

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is one of the three largest comedy festivals in the world, alongside Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival. An annual event, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival literally takes over Australia’s comedy capital, Melbourne, each autumn with an enormous program of stand-up comedy, cabaret, theatre, street performance, film, television, radio and visual arts.

The Festival was launched in 1987 by Barry Humphries and Peter Cook. Twenty festivals later, with attendances of over 400,000, it has grown to be Australia’s largest cultural event. The Comedy Festival is not only a hugely popular event but an extremely accessible one. When the Melbourne Town Hall precinct is converted into a giant comedy hub, there is something for every comedy lover, from the very best local and international comedy acts in venues of all shapes and sizes.

Source – www.comedyfestival.com.au

The Age Digital Life

Next Big thing - click here to read in full. It was inevitable – iPhone apps for the Melbourne Cup. Both are on iTunes App Store, available for $3.99.

The Race Book is a serious guide for punters, developed by Melbourne firm Media Banc and Lookout Mobile, the outfit that did the AFL footy app.

It offers up-to-the minute information from RISA (Racing Information Services Australia) on all the races in the spring carnival through to November 21; individual races, track and weather conditions, the horses, the form and scratchings, and all the other data beloved of keen punters.

AFTRS iPhone Presentation

AFTRS - Aust Film, Television and Radio School

On Saturday (31st October) Lookout Mobile were invited by the Australian Film, TV and Radio School (AFTRS) to talk about our experiences with developing iPhone applications. Both Pat and I participating in a 2 hour presentation walking the audience through our various iPhone app’s and thoughts about how to best plan and execute a successful application.

The day was organised by Tim Patterson (Prime Productions) and consisted of film and tv producers,  journalists and a few digital media planners. The course was aimed at teaching particpats the technology of the iPhone and how it is changing the world of mobile media, to explore the business model that exists with Apple for developers and to learn about project management, personnel, costing and workflow.

We were really excited to be presenting about what we love doing and hope that everyone had fun learning about this amazing device and economy.