The shipments of these mobiles devices on a global scale maintained Apple’s crown.
According to recent tablet commerce data issued by Strategy Analytics, the shipments of these mobile devices reached 76.8 million units last year, which was an increase of 20 percent over the 64 million units that had been shipped in 2012.
The Android operating system has been leading this marketplace with a clear dominance.
The data from Strategy Analytics showed that in terms of the share of operating systems in tablet commerce, Google’s Android was in the lead with a massive 62 percent. That said, Apple’s iOS had a 34 percent of the whole. That said, when it came to the individual mobile devices, Apple by far sold the largest number when compared to any other specific manufacturer.
Apple saw tablet commerce, last year, that was made up of the shipment of 26 million mobile devices.
Samsung came in second when it came to tablet sales, having shipped 13.6 million. In third place was Amazon, which sold 4.6 million. The next on this list were Asus (the manufacturer of the Nexus 7), which sold 3.6 million units, and then Lenovo with its 3 million, and Acer which had 1 million.
Among the products that drove Apple to the top of the list and made sure that consumers remained very interested in the tablets that it had to offer, were the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina display. These were credited by Strategy Analytics as having pushed its market share upward in the fourth quarter of last year by an additional 7 percent over where it had been in the third quarter. This turned around a two quarter streak of lost share.
Overall tablet commerce was very strong last year. It saw growth of 33 percent when compared to the year before, reaching 227 million units. The Strategy Analytics director of tablets and wearables, Matt Wilkins stated that “2013 was another extremely healthy year for the tablet market.” He added that while it was not a three digit increase, as had previously been seen, it remains considerable when keeping in mind that the market is now delivering more than 200 million units worldwide each year.
The latest smartphone statistics are showing that advertisers can’t use a one size fits all mentality.
Smartphones are rapidly becoming one of the best ways for brands to be able to communicate an interact with consumers in a relevant way, as mobile marketing techniques become better understood and employed, but marketers are discovering that there is no single solution to reaching everyone.
There are massive opportunities through smartphone advertising, but a cookie cutter strategy does not exist.
While promotions and ads over smartphones can be extremely effective in emerging markets, mobile marketing firms have come to note that when focusing on emerging markets, they must not only work on engaging consumers, but also in converting new customers. Among the emerging markets where the growth has been greatest are Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. In those markets, mobile ad revenues have risen by over 60 percent, year over year.
It is clear that these are very promising areas for mobile marketing, provided that it is done correctly.
The latest projections are that these markets will make up the majority of mobile connections within three years from now. Marketers are boosting their advertising budgets in order to focus on these customers and reach them through their smartphones. This is especially true in the areas in which there is a rapidly growing middle class. The reason is that it is building the number of people who have a disposable income.
In these emerging markets, the use of mobile devices is considerably greater than that of laptops and desktops. In fact, smartphones are used broadly over tablets. The reason is that they did not have the infrastructure or disposable income available for widespread computer use as developed nations saw those machines become ubiquitous. Therefore, targeting consumers over smartphones is essentially the only way to go when it comes to digital marketing in those regions.
The key is to avoid the belief that mobile marketing in the West and in these markets can be conducted in the same way. Duplicating campaigns leads to a direct failure in emerging markets, nearly every time.
