The Mobile Web Intelligence Report, February 2019 (Click to download full report)DeviceAtlas® has released its latest report on mobile device usage around the globe. The latest report focused on usage of the most popular Apple and Samsung devices across the four quarters of 2018 and analyzed the smartphone upgrade cycle. It also charts some interesting shifts in mobile OS popularity (iOS v Android), and highlights where each OS saw gains. The report also provides device hardware statistics for 36 countries, including data on the most common screen resolution, GPU, CPU and RAM.

The OS Landscape

• Driven by cashless banking and BankID (the government-supported e-verification service), smartphone ownership has become increasingly necessary, almost forcing Swedish residents to buy a smartphone. In this case, Android wins. Additional growth may also be due to in part to Huawei’s collaboration with Helena Christensen and Gal Gadot to promote their P20 range, despite Huawei also facing bans amongst the military in countries including the US and Canada due to security concerns.
• 2018 was overall positive for iOS in the battle of the mobile operating systems, despite lower revenue forecasts at the end of the year.
• iOS gained over 7% market share in Canada, almost 6% in the US, 4.69% in the UK and 4.28% in Germany. There were further shifts towards iOS in Spain, South Africa, Colombia, Ireland and Japan.
• The only countries to see Android growth were Malaysia, Australia, Poland and Sweden—where it’s now the most popular OS with 51.78% share.

The Smartphone Upgrade Cycle

• In plotting usage of the iPhone (the 6, 7, 8, and X) and Samsung Galaxy (S6, S7, S8 and S9) in eight countries, we see patterns emerging that suggest few smartphone users update annually, with a two-year timeframe the most common.
• It also suggests most users don’t upgrade to the next model in that category, ie: iPhone 7 to iPhone 8. Given the costs involved and adequate support for older models, the advantages to an annual upgrade are minimal.

Awareness of Smartphone Hardware is Critical for Content

• Advertisers and other content providers can offer a richer experience if they know when a high-powered device is requesting content or accessing an app. If the device is limited by its hardware, the offering can be scaled back to allow a less resource-heavy, but still enjoyable, experience.
• For content publishing, app creation and ad-targeting, a detailed understanding of the device landscape can give you an edge over competitors.

Methodology:

Reports are based on real website visits generated only by mobile devices. The web traffic is sourced from a global network of partner websites using DeviceAtlas for content delivery and optimization purposes.

* All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Download the full report here.

About DeviceAtlas – DeviceAtlas is the industry standard for device data and the only solution that is indexed for web, apps and mobile operator environments. Launched in 2008 to meet the needs of web developers creating content for a wide range of mobile devices, it is the world’s most authoritative source of device data, based on W3C recommendations. DeviceAtlas is the leading provider of device intelligence to several industry verticals ranging from major online brands, advertising platforms, financial services, gaming, analytics providers and mobile and telecoms focused companies. DeviceAtlas is a product of Afilias Technologies an expert provider of mobile and web technologies that help companies reach their customers, regardless of device, content, or context.