StartMeApp Mobile Advertising Network Usage Report Shows Significant Growth in Mobile Ad Impressions for North & South America; Android and Tablets Benefit Most Worldwide from Symbian Decline; 2013 Increase Projected for Apple iOS Impressions
During 2012, nearly two-thirds of all mobile ad impressions worldwide on the StartMeApp platform occurred across North America (including Mexico) and Latin America, which accounted for 31% and 33% of all impressions for the network last year. StartMeApp’s highest growth region during 2012 was Latin America (LatAm), which experienced a 225% jump in mobile ad impressions on the platform, followed by North America with 212% growth, the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) at 115% growth and Europe at 117% annual growth.
Latin America
In Latin America including Mexico, the StartMeApp AdSMART Quarterly Report shows that devices running the Symbian legacy operating system continued their regional decline, with share of ad impressions on the StartMeApp platform falling 7% from 37% in 2012 to 30% during Q1-2013.
A significant rise in Apple iOS’ share of impressions in Mexico on the StartMeApp platform helped to grow the iOS share for Latin America including Mexico by 4%, up from 20% at end-2012 to 24% in the first quarter of 2013. Excluding Mexico, normally included in StartMeApp platform tabulations for North America, the iOS share of impressions across Spanish-speaking LatAm and Brasil rose just 2% from 18% at end-2012 to 20% in the first quarter of 2013.
Regionwide, Android gained 3% in its share of ad impressions on the StartMeApp platform in LatAm, rising from 42% in 2012 to 45% during Q1-2013, while other operating systems’ share of StartMeApp impressions in LatAm remained unchanged at 1% of the total.
Key Points
- Symbian’s share of all of all impressions on the StartMeApp platform in LatAm fell 5% from 39% in 2012 to 34% during Q1-2013
- Android gained 3% in its share of ad impressions, rising from 42% in 2012 to 45% during Q1-2013;
- iOS rose by 2% from 18% at end-2012 to 20% in the first quarter of 2013
- Other operating systems’ share of StartMeApp impressions in LatAm remained static at 1% of the total.
Device Type
– LatAm (including Mexico):
- Smartphones’ share of SMA ad impressions in Latin America increased 5% from 54% in 2012 to 59% in Q1-2013
- Tablets’ share of impressions registered 4% growth in LatAm, from 3% in 2012 to 7% in Q1-2013
- Feature phones’ share of impressions on the SMA platform in LatAm saw a 9% drop, from 43% in 2012 to 34% in Q1-2013.
Smartphones
Worldwide, smartphones retained their dominant share of ad impressions on the StartMeApp platform, but showed no increase at 63% of the total during both 2012 and Q1 2013. In Latin America including Mexico, however, smartphones actually increased their share of the total, up 5% from 54% in 2012 to 59% in Q1-2013.
Tablets
Pushed higher by significant growth in the Mexican market, tablet device share of impressions registered 4% growth in LatAm including Mexico, up from from 3% in 2012 to 7% in Q1-2013. Tablets’ share of impressions for Spanish-speaking LatAm and Brazil, excluding Mexico registered just 2% growth, up from 3% in 2012 to 5% in Q1-2013.
The increase in the share of ad impressions corresponding to smartphones and tablets in LatAm occurred at the expense of feature phones, which fell sharply on the StartMeApp platform for LatAm including Mexico, down 9% drop, from 43% in 2012 to 34% in Q1-2013. Feature phones’ share in Spanish-speaking LatAm and Brasil excluding Mexico, fell 6% on the platform, from 43% in 2012 to 36% in Q1-2013.
On StartMeApp’s global platform, the share of mobile ad impressions corresponding to tablet devices grew more than did smartphones worldwide from the ongoing decline in the platform share of feature phones running on the Symbian OS. But across Latin America, the increase of smartphones’ share of mobile ad impressions was greater than that of tablets during Q1-2013.
Android, Apple…
The Android operating system gained 5% worldwide during Q1-2013 in its share of ad impressions on the StartMeApp platform, up from 39% during 2012 to 44% in the first quarter. The Android share increase came largely at the expense of the legacy Symbian OS, which despite its considerable staying power in some emerging markets, saw its share of impressions on StartMeApp´s network fall 7% from year-end to just 27% of all ad impressions during Q1 2013.
Apple’s iOS retained its quarter share of ad impressions on StartMeApp´s platform, rising by just 1% to total 26% of all ad impressions during Q1-2013, the 1% uptick resulting from share increases in LatAm, North America and APAC that are expected to continue throughout 2013.
The share of mobile ad impressions corresponding to feature phones on the StartMeApp platform fell across all markets during Q1-2013, with tablets’ share of impressions rising across all markets and smartphones showing mixed results on a region-by-region basis.
