We have heard recently that Rovio will be opening up their own payment system early next year for in-app purchases via carrier-billing. Known as “Bad Piggy Bank” this will allow users to pay to upgrade to an ad-free version or to buy virtual goods. But at the moment they only have one Finnish carrier confirmed as being on board and when or if this system will reach the majority of carriers is anyone’s guess so we’ll continue to concentrate on the ad-supported version for now.

When asked why they offer Angry Birds for free on Android they have replied “because that is the Google way” and when pressed on the fact that not all games on the Android Market are free they replied with the assertion that “the ones with more than 50K downloads are….” I’m not sure what led them to that bit of hyperbole, but if you check the Android Market you will find that Fruit Ninja which is available for 99 cents claims over 2 million downloads and there are numerous other paid games ranging in price from $1-$5 that all report over 50,000 downloads.

The reality is that Rovio likely stands to earn more long term from the ad supported version than the 99 cents that they charge for Angry Birds in the Apple App Store. This theory is born out by Peter Vesterbacka of Rovio who stated that by the end of the year they would be earning more than a million dollars a month from the ad-supported version of Angry Birds and in the new developer series from Google reported that they were very pleased with their results on Android.

This brings us to the most recent addition to the ad repertoire for Angry Birds and that is pregame videos from AdMob. If you haven’t seen one of these ads yet you can watch the video below for a couple samples (apologies for the audio). Now you can skip the ad using the button in the lower right corner of the screen or by hitting the back button while it is playing, but it is another layer of advertising to Angry Birds in addition to the banner ads which still run in the upper-right corner of the screen during the game itself. Personally I feel that all of this advertising detracts from what is an excellent and visually appealing game.

Rovio had an opportunity to show that compelling content will sell well on Android and instead opted to go ad-supported, which in the end has proved to be a profitable and successful model for them. My hope, however, is that the takeaway for game developers is that there is a strong desire for good games on Android and not that free ad-laden games are the only viable option.

Android now accounts for 46% of AdMob's U.S. traffic.

Android now accounts for 46% of U.S. smartphone share, while iPhone OS slid to 39%. A greater percentage of Android apps are offered for free so more developers have turned to ads in order to monetize their work.

Google recently acquired AdMob, but the deal is far from done. The FTC is still negotiating with Google, but it looks like our government will try to block the proposed acquisition.

Android highlights from the report include:

• Two Android devices, the HTC Dream and HTC Magic, collectively represented 96% of Android traffic in September 2009. Seven months later, 11 devices represented 96% of Android traffic in the AdMob network.
• In March 2010, Android traffic share on the AdMob network was divided relatively evenly between the three primary versions of the Android OS: Android 1.5 (38%), Android 2.0 / 2.1 (35%) and Android 1.6 (26%).
• Motorola was the leading Android manufacturer with 44% share of traffic in March 2010 due to the success of the Droid and CLIQ. HTC was a close second with 43% of requests, followed by Samsung with 9%.
• The Android platform has experienced significant growth in monthly traffic over the past year. Android traffic has grown at a compounded monthly growth rate of 32% per month, going from 72 million requests in March 2009 to 2.0 billion in March 2010.
• Two Android devices, the HTC Dream and HTC Magic, collectively represented 96% of Android traffic in September 2009. Seven months later, 11 devices represented 96% of Android traffic in the AdMob network.
• The Motorola Droid was the leading Android handset in March 2010 and generated 32% of worldwide Android traffic. The Google Nexus One only generated 2% of Android traffic in March 2010.
• The top Android devices vary by country. The top three devices in the US were the Motorola Droid, HTC Dream and Motorola CLIQ. In comparison, the top three Android devices in the UK were the HTC Hero, HTC Dream and HTC Magic.

Smartphones overtook feature phones around the Droid launch.

Noteworthy findings included:

• Android was the fastest growing operating system in the AdMob network year-over-year. Android’s share of smartphone requests increased from 2% in February 2009 to 24% in February 2010. The top five Android devices worldwide, by traffic, were the Motorola Droid, HTC Dream, HTC Hero, HTC Magic, and the Motorola CLIQ.
• In February 2010, smartphones accounted for 48% of AdMob’s worldwide traffic, up from 35% in February 2009. The strong growth of iPhone and Android traffic, fueled by heavy application usage, was primarily responsible for the increase. In absolute terms, smartphone traffic increased 193% over the last year.

Now that AdMob breaks the data down by category, we can see the top 10 smartphones for the United States. In the month of February, Android accounted for 7 of the top 10 smartphones. Every Android phone saw an increase in share except for the HTC Dream (G1) which was the first Android device released.

The top smartphones in the United States.

Finally, the iPhone OS and Android are now neck and neck in United States share of AdMob requests. Android reached an all time high of 42% compared to iPhone’s 44%. At this rate, Android will become the leading mobile operating system in the AdMob network next month.

Percentage of U.S. AdMob requests. Will Android pass iPhone next month?

Highlights of the survey include:

• 31% of developers are currently developing for more than one mobile platform and almost half (47%) said they plan on developing on more than one platform in the next 6 months.
• More than 70% of iPhone developers plan to develop for Android over the next six months and close to half of Android developers (48%) plan to develop for iPhone.
• Many developers are new to mobile with 49% saying they have been developing for mobile less than a year.
• 58% of respondents develop for the mobile web.

Hit up the source link for the full report.

68% of devs plan to target Android in the next 6 months.

Looking at the latest Admob report for January, it looks like Android will soon overtake iPhone in smartphone traffic for the United States. In the latest monthly report Android now accounts for 39% of smartphone requests compared to 47% for iPhone OS.

I’ve been tracking the data for 13 months now and Android has increased every single time.

Android vs iPhone: Percentage of U.S. smartphone requests.

Some might call this a minor win, but I think it will be significant when Android passes up iPhone OS in Admob reports. Based on the current trend, this could happen as early as Q2 2010. For more on placing Admob metrics in context, see this blog post.

In the immediate future, it looks like the iPhone will remain an AT&T exclusive. At the same time, AT&T will be launching at least five Android phones which will further compete with the iPhone. When AT&T launches their first Android device, all four of the largest U.S. carriers will carry Android phones.

Other highlights from the latest Admob report include:

• Android and iPhone users download a similar number of apps every month and spend a similar amount of time using the apps. However, some differences between the platforms still exist. Only 21% of Android users purchase at least 1 paid app per month, compared to 24% of webOS users, 35% of iPod touch users and 50% of iPhone users.
• 73% of Android users are male, compared to 58% of webOS users, 57% of iPhone users and 54% iPod touch users. The iPhone, iPod touch and webOS have similar gender distributions, with just over half of the users on all devices being male.
• 91% of iPhone users and 88% of iPod touch users would recommend their device, compared to 84% of Android users and 69% of webOS users.
• The average age of an Android device user (35) is similar to an iPhone user (37) and that of a webOS device user (36). The average age of an iPod touch user is 23. iPhone, Android and webOS users are fairly evenly split across age groups.

Analyst have predicted Android would overtake the iPhone in sales by 2012, but we might see Google’s mobile OS pass up Apple in online smartphone requests for the United States this year.

Observe the following chart that I generated with Admob Mobile Metrics data. It displays the percentage of smartphone request by operating system for each month in 2009.

US smartphone request for 2009: Android vs iPhone OS

In December, iPhone OS accounted for 46% of request while Android jumped to 36%. Based on the current trend, we could see Android overtake iPhone as early as Q2 2010.

The iPhone exclusivity will end sometime, but it remains restricted to AT&T in the United States. Android is available on Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and soon to be AT&T (plus other regional carriers like Cellular South). Google also has the advantage of dozens of new Android phones in multiple form factors and price points.

We could argue for a long time over the validity of these AdMob reports, but I still believe they remain an important metric. AdMob is one of the largest mobile advertising platforms, which gives us a good picture of where the money is going. If we follow the money, then we should have a pretty good picture where the smartphone industry is headed.

From AdMob: Remember AdMob data is based on the usage of mobile sites and apps, which is very different than if you were to look at estimates of device sales from Gartner, IDC, or your favorite Wall Street analyst. For those new to the Metrics report, visit this blog post for details on the report methodology.

Additional Android notes from the December Admob Mobile Metrics report:

• North America: Android share grew throughout the year reaching 27% in Q4 2009, by far its highest penetration in any region.
• Western Europe: Android had a strong Q4 2009 and generated 8% share of smartphone requests, second only to North America in penetration.
• HTC share increased from 1% in Q4 2008 to 6% in Q4 2009 due to success of its Android devices in North America and Western Europe.
• Android traffic in the AdMob network has grown dramatically over the last year in North America and Western Europe. In Q4 2008, traffic from Android devices represented only 1% of overall smartphone traffic, compared to 16% in Q4 2009.
• The Motorola Droid is the most popular Android phone in the U.S. taking in 11.3% of all smartphone request in December.

Android experienced a strong 37% growth in AdMob’s latest report for United States smartphone traffic this month and it was all thanks to the Motorola Droid. Since the handset first appeared on November 6, 2009 it has captured around 25% of the AdMob Android traffic in the U.S. That made the Droid the 5th most popular smartphone in the U.S. placing it above the HTC myTouch 3G, HTC Hero, and Motorola CLIQ which were previously launched.

Other findings from the latest AdMob report include:

• The growth of traffic from Android devices has been fueled by the release of new devices. Six months ago a single Android device, the HTC Dream (G1), generated 92% of Android traffic, while in November 2009 the same device accounted for only 37% of requests.
• The Motorola Droid, HTC Magic, and HTC Hero generated 22%, 21% and 9% of Android requests worldwide in November 2009, respectively.
• Traffic from Android devices has increased dramatically over the last year, particularly with the new devices launched in the last two months. Android generated 27% of smartphone requests in the US in November 2009, up from 20% in October 2009.
• In November 2009, 88% of Android traffic in the AdMob network was generated in the US. The UK was with second largest market with 4% of requests.
• As the number of Android devices proliferates around the world, the popular Android handsets may vary from region to region. In the US, the Motorola Droid quickly became the number two Android handset with heavy marketing support from Verizon. In the UK, the HTC Dream, HTC Magic and HTC Hero make up 92% of Android requests.

The top Android phones for the United States in November were:

1. HTC Dream (G1) – 38%
2. Motorola Droid – 25%
3. HTC Magic (myTouch 3G) – 18%
4. HTC Hero – 7%
5. Motorola CLIQ – 7%
6. Other – 5%

HTC is the most popular handset maker for Android phones in the U.S. with 19% of all smartphone traffic in AdMob’s report. Motorola debuts as the 2nd most popular in the U.S. with 9% of all smartphone traffic.

Every month, AdMob releases metrics reports that help us identify trends in the mobile industry. I have used these reports to generate headlines like “Android pulls ahead of Windows Mobile” and “Android closing in on BlackBerry“. A lot of people have criticized the data because it only reports on AdMob use, but I still find it a helpful tool. For more on placing AdMobe metrics in context, see their official blog.

We have finished the first three quarters of 2009 so I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at this year. I have compiled all the AdMob reports dating back to January to display a breakdown of Android vs iPhone.

Android vs iPhone in the United States: 2009

First up we have smartphone ad request from just the United States. Android started at 1% and steadily rose to 17%. This was due large in part to two Android phones: the HTC Dream and HTC Magic. The Dream (aka G1) is the oldest Android phone and now ranks as the 3rd most popular handset in the AdMob reports. The Magic (myTouch 3G) was released August 5, 2009 and has already climbed to number 10 in the top handset models.

Sprint and Verizon have recently launched Android phones and we should expect to see their effects showing up over the next few months.

Year to date, iPhone OS requests (iPhone + iPod) are about where they started. The requests peaked in May and have been on the decline since then. With the iPhone still limited to a single carrier in the United States, we expect they will continue to decline for the rest of this year and in 2010.

Android vs iPhone worldwide: 2009

The worldwide numbers tell a similar story. Android has shown steady growth throughout the year and shows no signs of slowing down. We can see that Android adoption has mainly been driven by two countries: United States (17%) and United Kingdom (11%).

I decided not to graph it, but Symbian has been the big loser in the smartphone world. Symbian started the year with 44% of smartphone requests and now sits at 29%. With even more handset makers turning to Android, 2010 will be a tough year for Symbian.

Conclusion

We can see that iPhone is not going away, but Android will eventually begin to eat their market share. I’m really interested to see what happens with the United States two largest carriers (Verizon and AT&T). The rumors are beginning to swell again that say Verizon will offer the iPhone (in some form) which could double its sales. AT&T is also rumored to finally get an Android phone in 2010, when Dell launches their smartphone.

No matter what happens, we know 2010 will be the year that Android growth explodes.

The six month comparison shows exactly what we expected. Android continues to grow while Symbian, Rim, and Windows see declines. The iPhone is up during the last 6 months, but it peaked on the Admob reports back in May. The all time high for iPhone was 50% in May and it has declined four months in a row to 40% in August.

Android should see accelerated growth this holiday season.

Android remained at 7% worldwide share in the August report, but Admob says ad requests from Android devices grew 17% month over month. The HTC Magic (myTouch 3G) is a Top 10 smartphone in both North America and Western Europe.

Symbian and iPhone saw declines.

The iPhone saw declines for the second month in a row.  They reached a high of 50% in May and it appears that might have been their peak.  Symbian, RIM OS, and Windows Mobile have been in decline since March.

The rise in Android’s worldwide share in July can be partly attributed to gains in the UK market, where  Android requests were up 30% month over month.  It will be interesting to see the reports for August where Android made important gains.  We saw the T-Mobile myTouch 3G launch and more Android phones become available in new countries.

iPhone saw the biggest decline in July.

A closer look at the US requests shows Android is taking share directly from iPhone.  RIM OS (Blackberry) also saw declines.  Smartphone requests in the US from Android grew 33% month over month.  The US data also confirms that the iPhone’s lead topped out in May.

It really is amazing that Android has been able to achieve a double digit share with basically one phone on a single carrier.  At this rate, these charts will be turned upside down next year when 4 of the top 5 handset makers have launched phones on the top 4 US carriers. If Apple wants to stop the bleeding, they will have to bring the iPhone to more US carriers.

[via AdMob]