iOS Continues to dominate mobile market for mobile ads, but for how long?

Most recent reports suggest that Apple's iOS continues to dominate the mobile advertising market in terms of impressions and revenue generation delivering almost 44% of all ad impressions and almost 50% of revenue (Figure 1).  The mobile market is increasingly looking like a two horse race between Apple iOS and Android and whilst on the face of it Apple continues to dominate, the decline of any alternative operating system other than Android suggests that in the near term Android will soon pass iOS as it becomes the de-facto alternative operation system.

Traffic share (mobile phone OS)

OS Share	% of Traffic	% of Revenue
Android	31.24%	28.08%
Phone	30.58%	27.76%
Tablet	0.66%	0.32%
iOS	43.75%	49.36%
IPhone	30.88%	36.44%
iPad	8.04%	10.21%
iTouch	4.83%	2.71%
RIM	3.37%	5.41%
Symbian	5.16%	1.56%
Windows	0.26%	0.30%
Other	16.21%	15.27%

Source: Opera  mediaworks

The challenge presented by Android is strengthening as Google and its partners increase the rate of innovation.  Apple is clearly showing signs of innovation fatigue.  A recent report by Goldman Sachs pointed to several concerns, including “delayed product cycles, supply chain difficulties, product price erosion, and a slower pace of product innovation.” Apple’s ability to continue innovating at the breakneck pace it maintained over the past few years remains a major concern.  The recent performance of Google Play surpassing Apple's App Store downloads particularly in emerging markets underline the direction of travel.

This rebalancing of the market suggests that in the longer term the Android market is set to become the most important mobile advertising market.