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Consumers are more than twice as likely to purchase a smartphone based on Google’s Android operating system than they would Apple’s iPhone, according to a new survey.
Application store GetJar said that nearly 40 percent of 2,500 respondents said they will switch to Android when they purchase their next phone, compared to the 18 percent who said they would like to switch to the iPhone.
GetJar Chief Marketing Officer said the survey, shows “that all eyes are on Android.”
Some 31.7 percent of respondents use Nokia’s Symbian platform, while 23 percent listed having a Java feature phone. 18 percent percent fessed up to having an Android phone. Some 27 percent use another platform in the obvious subtraction, though GetJar did not list how many iPhone users were polled.
It’s important to note that most iPhone users procure apps through Apple’s App Store, not GetJar. Accordingly, as Search Engine Land’s Greg Sterling noted, Apple iOS users are not represented in the survey results.
Conversely, GetJar has plenty of motivation to champion Android in its research. The company plans to “aggressively expand its offering to Android publishers in order to secure its position as the premier open Android Market alternative.
A better way to make the case for Android’s success is that all Android devices are reaching users’ eyes, at least in the U.S.
Since the launch of the first Verizon Wireless Droid marketing blitz in November 2009, no smartphone platform has been nearly as heavily marketed as the Android line. Most recently, AT&T got into the act by showing ads for its Motorola Atrix 4G during the NCAA basketball tournament this month.
This blitzkrieg marketing, in conjunction with the launch of more than 100 devices all over the world, has helped push Android past Research in Motion and Apple’s iOS as the leading smartphone platform in the U.S., according to comScore’s February figures.
Android’s rise may be tempered through March somewhat by the availability of the iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless network, though early reports indicate the results have been solid, even if not a resounding success.
GetJar also found that app usage is clearly on the rise with survey results showing that almost 34 percent of consumers spend one hour or more using apps per day, compared to 49 percent who spend the same amount of time watching television. Apps for gaming (hello, Angry Birds) and social networking, such as Facebook and Twitter, are the most popular.
Also, 73 percent of respondents said they have downloaded an app with advertising in it, and almost 60 percent said they’d do it again. Moreover, almost one in four made a purchase after having clicked on a mobile ad.
These latter figures are all good news for Google, which owns the premier mobile ad networks in AdMob and AdSense for mobile.