Mobile Phone Apps - UK - October 2013

Market Segmentation

Key points
iOS users are significantly more likely to use applications that have been downloaded onto
their phones and are more likely to download a higher quantity of apps.
Some 5% of 16!"yearolds downloaded more than eight applications per month in
#ebruary !$1% according to comScore &obi'ens.
(lack(erry)s primary demographic has comprehensively shifted since the company)s
halcyon days in the early 1**$s. +nstead of mature business people, almost a fifth of the users
downloading apps from the brand)s app store -1*.6%. were aged 1%1/ as of #ebruary !$1%.
iOS users much more engaged with app use
#+0123 !!: Source of applications used by consumers, by smartphone operating platform,
February 2013

Base: 40,000 mobile phone users

Source: comScore Mobiens!Mintel
"se of non#nati$e %indo&s 'hone apps has impro$ed substantially( Mintel)s Mobile Phone Apps UK,
June 2012 report re$ealed that 2*+ of %indo&s 'hone o&ners in May 2012 had used an app obtained from
an app store on their de$ice( ,his figure had risen to 32+ in 2013, an impressi$e -#percentage point
increase(
,his increase is li.ely than.s to the /o.ia umia range of de$ices( ,he handsets ha$e sold &ell,
rein$igorating the %indo&s 'hone brand( 0ncreased use of the colourful, engaging handsets &ill ha$e fed
into increased use of the $arious features in the 1S, including the %indo&s Mar.etplace(
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Portsmouth.
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23ngagement) is a hard metric to measure gi$en the $ariable definitions of the &ord( 0t is relati$ely safe to
say ho&e$er that i1S users are the most 2engaged) of any mobile app users(
,hey are more li.ely 4 as &as discussed in the Mar.et 5ri$ers section of this report 4 to spend on their
applications6 despite ha$ing a lo&er $olume of do&nloads, the re$enue from the i1S 7pp Store is higher
than 8oogle)s e9ui$alent(
,hey are also more li.ely, as demonstrated in the chart abo$e, to use an application on their phone that had
been do&nloaded from a mobile app store( 1$er half of all i1S users ha$e done so( By contrast, under a
third of Blac.Berry and :ust o$er a 9uarter of %indo&s 'hone users ha$e used an app do&nloaded from an
app store on their de$ices(
Finally, i1S users are significantly more li.ely to be high#$olume do&nloaders of apps( Some 1*+ of i1S
users do&nloaded bet&een four and se$en apps per month as of February 2013( 7lmost half that amount 4
;+ 4 had done the same for 7ndroid, the 1S &ith the ne<t highest rate of app do&nloads(
#+0123 !%: /umber of app do&nloads per month, by percentage of handset operating system users,
February 2013

Base: 40,000 mobile users aged 1=>

? less than 1+
Source: comScore Mobiens!Mintel
Key analysis: Developers with only the time or resources to code for one app store should remain, in the
This report is supplied in accordance with Mintel's terms and conditions. Supplied to University Of
Portsmouth.
Mintel Group td. "
majority of cases, with iOS. Android devices are more numerous than iOS devices globally, by about
!", and in the #K, where penetration of Android devices $%&"' is double that of iOS $()"'. Despite
this significantly wider reach, however, iOS users are significantly more li*ely to download applications
onto their phones, more li*ely to spend money on apps and more li*ely to download a higher +uantity of
apps.
,o release onto both the iOS and Android ecosystems would be ideal, but unless the aim of the developer
is e-plicitly to reach the largest possible audience, the Apple App Store seems to represent . on balance .
a more promising opportunity.
14%" and iOS users highest app downloaders
#+0123 !": /umber of apps do&nloaded in the last month, by age, February 2013

Base: 40,000 mobile phone o&ners

? less than 1+
Source: comScore Mobiens!Mintel
Some *+ of 1;#24#year#olds do&nloaded eight or more applications per month in February 2013 according
to comScore Mobiens(
,he arguably surprising finding in the chart abo$e is the lo& le$els of acti$ity seen amongst 13#1-#year#
olds( 7s smartphones come to be o&ned by an increasingly younger audience, &ith parents gifting old
handsets to their children, le$els of app acti$ity from children &ould perhaps be assumed to be higher than
they are(
7ctual app do&nload acti$ity though for children and 13#1-#year#olds is closely comparable to that of 3*#
*4#year#olds(
0t may be that younger consumers are pre$ented from do&nloading apps by parents reluctant to trust them
&ith an account that could be misused to rac. up huge do&nload bills(
This report is supplied in accordance with Mintel's terms and conditions. Supplied to University Of
Portsmouth.
Mintel Group td. #
#+0123 !5: /umber of apps do&nloaded in the last month, by smartphone 1S, February 2013

Base: 40,000 mobile phone o&ners

Source: comScore Mobiens!Mintel
0n a repeat of the trend obser$ed in Mintel)s Mobile Phone Apps UK, June 2012 report, i1S users are still
the most prolific do&nloaders of apps( 1$er half of those consumers &ho ha$e do&nloaded fi$e or si< apps
in the month leading to February 2013 &ere on an i1S de$ice, compared to :ust under a third coming from
an 7ndroid de$ice(
Key analysis: ,he premium positioning of the i/hone means that only those consumers with a vested
interest in owning a smartphone device are li*ely to pay for it. 0hilst there are comparable top1end
Android devices, li*e the Samsung 2ala-y series of phones or the Sony 3peria, because the total pool of
Android devices is diluted so heavily with ine-pensive models sold to disinterested older consumers at
the top of their upgrade cycle, the total tendency to investigate and download apps is reduced.
This report is supplied in accordance with Mintel's terms and conditions. Supplied to University Of
Portsmouth.
Mintel Group td. $
(lack(erry loses business edge with youth app user spike
#+0123 !6: 7ge of consumers do&nloading from application stores, February 2013

Source: comScore Mobiens!Mintel
Blac.Berry)s primary demographic has comprehensi$ely shifted since the company)s halcyon days in the
early 1@@0s(
0nstead of middle#aged business people, almost a fifth of the users do&nloading apps from the brand)s app
store A1@(=+B &ere aged 13#1- as of February 2013( ,his spi.e in youth o&nership is than.s to the
popularity of the free Blac.Berry Messenger app 4 o$er the years leading up to 2013 4 ma.ing the handsets
popular &ith children and young teens(
For the 7pple 7pp Store, 8oogle 'lay store and %indo&s Mar.etplace, 2*#34s &ere most li.ely to be
do&nloading apps( ,his lead is particularly e$ident for app shoppers on the %indo&s Mar.etplace(
Key analysis: ,his may ma*e it harder for any developers still wor*ing with the 4lac*4erry ecosystem to
ma*e meaningful returns. 5ounger consumers are much less li*ely to be able to spend money on apps,
as they will not have their own ban* cards or accounts capable of processing the payments.
This report is supplied in accordance with Mintel's terms and conditions. Supplied to University Of
Portsmouth.
Mintel Group td. %