Android Phones Are Basically Used As Dumbphones

[Gunzkewl]

 

From Black Friday through Christmas Day, one of the big mysteries of the mobile commerce business played out again, for all to see:

Apple users on iPhone and iPad accounted for five times what Google's Android users did when it comes to online shopping.

 

That phenomenon is bizarre when you consider that the vast majority — as many as 80% in some surveys — of all smartphone users are Android owners.

 

Google's mobile users outnumber Apple's all over the place, but Apple users are the ones spending all the money. iOS users spent $93.94 per order, nearly twice that of Android users, who spent just $48.10.

 

What the heck is wrong with Android users?

 

Android people just seem to be sitting on their hands. Their phones are just as powerful as iPhones are. They have bigger screens, too. But they don't do anything with them. At least not financially.

 

 

In the meantime, we turned to Simon Khalaf, CEO of Flurry, one of the larger mobile ad companies, to see if he had seen the same phenom in his business. He had a surprising answer for us: Androids are simply dumbphone replacement devices, and treated as such, he says. Despite the features at their fingertips, Android people use their phones for calling, texting and playing Bejeweled. They ain't shopping.

 

The Android cloud does have a silver lining. But before we get to that, it's worth hearing Khalaf out in full:

 

We have seen and published reports that an Android user is worth 1/4 of an iOS user, but that is based on virtual goods sales (mainly games). The IBM data seems to suggest that this is almost the same ratio for sales of physical goods (m-commerce).

 

I have done some anecdotal analysis on my own on some large specific e-commerce apps and found almost the same ratio of sales -- Basically one iOS user buys four times more than an Android user. But the analysis was on specific apps and not exhaustive, so we didn't say much.

 

As far as the main reason, we have theories -- but hard to validate. Main theory is that some Android devices are simply replacement of feature phones and not used as a smartphone, especially in the U.S. That big of a ratio is perplexing, but it is what it is. I don't have any reason to doubt IBM's data. Our data seems to be saying the same thing.

 

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-android-market-share-ecommerce-2014-1#ixzz2pjLbrSC1

 

 

[WildTurtle]

Shopping from a phone just seems wrong to me.

[AlexGoesHigh]

because android user aren't hipster whit credit cards and the fact that user base is WAY bigger that iOS plus android has a lot of budget phone tells you not everyone is going to spend money on apps also the ecosystem is very different android has a lot of free apps that can do the same as a paid app on iOS, they are just to many variable to explain why is this way

 

and if what it say its true about android having an 80% user share means that even an iOS user whit 4 times more the independent value, android still has more market opportunity being more that 5 times bigger that iOS   

[Ssoele]

Would be nice if we have less of a quote and more of an opinion.

[GBBnero]

Even tough I myself use an iPhone I might think that a Android user is more cost aware. The Android phones are as good as iPhones at much lower cost but they don't carry the same image and to many, not the same design value. So maybe Android users spend less money shopping through phones because they research more and longer before buying. This research is, in my opinion, much more convenient on a Laptop / Desktop. iPhone users might not care about a cheaper solution as they target a specific item whereas Android users might be more flexible and consider lower cost items.

[MatheusSanzo]

I don't buy almost nothing online because I don't have a credit card.

 

AND I DON'T WANT ONE.

[mopman94]

Because Android users have the intelligence to know its much easier to shop from a computer than a phone.

[JLCitadel]

Or the people who buy android phones just aren't dumbasses & realize you can get almost every single conceivable useful feature you need for day to day use on a phone free.

 

Computers are easier to shop from.

 

#Pcmasterrace

 

 

& No offense to iOS users, this is just directed at the dumbfounded stupidity of the article.

[N00B_person]

Does it really matter how users of certain handsets utilise said handsets? Also, you realise Apple created one of the largest online music firms in the world, so of course they'll have the advantage. I use my Samsung Galaxy SIII mini for all kinds of things. You shouldnt just outright adroid users on the basis that we dont do the things we are apparently expected to?

[Blue fellow]

Since when are phones smart because you can buy things from them? 

 

Most of the apps that charge money are a dumb purchase  :lol:

 

Plus I have a computer that is far more productive than any phone is. I can research the product, look at reviews, search around for competition, etc, far faster and far better on a computer than a phone. 

[Biggerisbetter]

This article lacks lot of detailed info. What's the sample size, age demo, and male to female ratio. By doing a quick search on google. It's easy to see women prefer iphone and males prefer andriod phone. This can explain why iphone sales are larger than android. Retailers also focus more on female shoppers during the holiday season. Too sum it up. Women are the reason why iphone numbers are better than android.

[ilikemacandpc]

yeah. most of the people i know buy piece of crap free phones on AT&T and use them for basic things like calling and texting. 

 

The group of Android power users who can get the most out of a phone is the minority, and the cheapskate/stupid average consumer is the overwhelming majority. 

[Kilerbomb]

Android has more free apps. What did they expect?

[R4STABAN]

Obvious.

People buy cheap android phones as 'dumbphones'. The market is awash with the grotty dirtiness of cheap android tat.

The android users I know usually torrent all their music and movies too.

[qwertywarrior]

ive owned an android phone since the galaxy s2

and now i have a NEXUS 5

-------------------

 

i only bought one thing on the play store  (root callblocker)

 

and a root app that isnt on the play store (xPrivacy pro)

 

ive never had to buy anything because i really dont need to

many aps are free with Ads

 

 

i believe ios user pay more because mostly kids use them as a game device

this is what i observed

[sysloc]

Also easy roots and paid-for apps for free. (Aptoide, 4shared, etc)

[R4STABAN]

My initial impression of these findings is actually that people have been shopping at home on their ipads in droves.

 

Meanwhile you have android tablets tha-

 

oh wait.. android tablets, rofl. Who buys them?

 

20-something nerds like us that have few people to buy xmas presents for and not a lot of money to buy them with.

[Eyal]

A good friend of mine is a mobile developer, he started on android (he has 5 apps in the Google play store), he decided to expand his market and quickly ported one of his apps and in one month he made more money than he did from the Google play store in the last 6 months from all his apps combined.. iPhone users are more likely to buy apps than android users, no research, they just buy.. "it's just two dollars" again and again and again.. (I realize I was generalizing ios users, I'm talking about the majority, If you're on this forum you're likely to be the exception for that. Sorry if I offended anyone, that's not my intention)

[jrfox87]

Android phones in general aren't used as dumbphones, but I'd bet most of the cheap ones are and globally the market for cheap Android phones is much bigger than the market for the high end Android phones. 

[deathjester]

Probably because people with Android aren't comfortable putting their credit card number in their phone or purchasing things through wireless? I have an Iphone (was free) and I never shop from the thing. I also could care less about arguing over a dumb phone that can at max, play crappy games, take mediocre pictures, make phone calls, surf the internet awkwardly. Let's argue which does it better!

 

Since you are really pro Apple can you tell them to make an optional set of icons for non 8 year old girls or give us the old ones back?

 

This new IOS looks horrid. It looks like Rainbow Bright threw up. I cringe every time I use it.

 

http://jimlynch.com/mobile/ios-7-a-mobile-os-for-13-year-old-girls/

[Ribozyme]

1.I think if you'd shop from a mobile platform it would be a tablet as a phones screen is often too small to comfortably browse. And isn't the tablet market dominated by apple? 

 

Then you have the smartphones market which is dominated by android. But shopping on a phone is less practical? So netto apple mobile products owners spend most of the mobile dough.

 

If there are more android tablets out there than this theory fails of course.

 

 

2. My second theory would be that people who buy apple products are generally more wealthy and thus have more money to spend online.

[dizmo]

Obvious.

People buy cheap android phones as 'dumbphones'. The market is awash with the grotty dirtiness of cheap android tat.

The android users I know usually torrent all their music and movies too.

 

 

My initial impression of these findings is actually that people have been shopping at home on their ipads in droves.

 

Meanwhile you have android tablets tha-

 

oh wait.. android tablets, rofl. Who buys them?

 

20-something nerds like us that have few people to buy xmas presents for and not a lot of money to buy them with.

 

Wow somebody's an Apple fanboy.

Android tablets have been rapidly taking marketshare from Apple. I don't particularly care, as I don't find tablets useful, but people DO buy them. There's a reason Android is on 1.2 billion device.

 

 

 

There's one thing that no one's bothered to mention here. I'm not sure about the US, but in Canada for the longest time they didn't have carrier billing for Android. You couldn't just click "buy" and have it added to your bill at the end of the month. With iOs you could. That creates a lot more sales than you might think, as the person doesn't have to think about buying it. They just click a button, and deal with the usually much higher than they thought bill at the end of the month.

 

It's funny no one bothers to mention the Windows store. I bet that one is even worse than Android, as a HUGE portion of their phones are sold at the absolute bottom of their handset line up.

 

Blackberry would probably fare a bit better, only because their apps are a lot more expensive.

 

I have an Android phone. I haven't bought any apps because, honestly, most of them are free like mentioned before. None of the paid apps are really that useful to me.

[jksluv]

Im an iPhone 5 user myself and find this article quiet funny. iPhones are pretty much overpriced for what it is compare to other phones(android). Which explains why there are more android users+android users care for what they pay for. I feel like most iPhone users are either: elders who want easy-to-use smartphone, spoiled teenager who want to showoff, or the one with $$$$$. So iPhone users spending more money is quiet obvious.

Ps. I use iphone becuz i was too lazy to switch ecosystem from iphone4. Plus i got my iphone 5 for free

[brownninja97]

I think its called apk on andriod, that thing makes it easy to get free apps, its a little harder on ios and their are emulators which are friggin amazing and free mostly.

[Khraft]

Has anyone even looked at the plans that the big carriers offer?  They don't even offer plans for dumbphones anymore.  The only way to even get a dumbphone is to get a pay-as-you-go phone which don't offer unlimited texting.  At least this is from my experience searching around 'cause I'm planning to get a phone.