If you're single, your mom is more likely to use an iPad than you are
A new study from Flurry Analytics is out, filled with data about iPhone and iPad usage collected randomly from 44,295 users during the month of May. This data is helpful for advertisers, but it's pretty interesting for everyone else as well.
Context & Ripple Effects
Flurry Analytics’ May sample adds an audience-composition layer to an Apple device story previously defined by scale: the iPad had been reported to account for 97% of tablet web traffic, while iPhone and iPad purchases were reported to dominate mobile commerce. The value of the new data is not merely device reach, but evidence that usage differs across consumer segments.
That makes Flurry’s findings useful to advertisers and app publishers choosing whether iPad and iPhone inventory should carry the same message, even within Apple’s broader mobile audience.
First-order effects
- Advertisers using Flurry data can distinguish iPad and iPhone audiences by household and relationship characteristics instead of buying Apple-device reach as a single segment.
- iPad app publishers gain evidence that their audience profile may differ from that of iPhone-focused products, affecting creative and placement choices.
Second-order effects
- Mobile ad buyers may price iPad inventory on audience composition as well as its large traffic footprint, strengthening the case for device-specific campaigns.
- Developers with products on both Apple devices face more pressure to tailor acquisition and engagement efforts by device rather than reuse one audience assumption.
Third-order effects
- If demographic measurement becomes standard in mobile analytics, device categories become advertising segments in their own right, shifting competition from reach alone toward the quality of audience data.
The trend: Mobile advertising is moving from platform-level reach metrics toward demographic segmentation tied to the device people use.