Proving once again that social networking and smartphones go hand-in-hand, a new report is highlighting the prominent role occupied by Facebook on one of today’s most popular smartphones – Apple’s iPhone. This understanding is based on freshly published data from analyst Benedict Evans of Enders Analysis.
In September 2012, Evans reports, Facebook retained 470 million users of its smartphone apps. But the iPhone in particular is a major magnet for the social network of one billion registered users.
The iPhone install base in September 2012 was perhaps 200 million, giving Facebook a staggering 70% market penetration.
In other words, Facebook has much higher penetration in iPhones than Android phones: 70% versus 40%. This might be a geographic issue, with Android having higher share in emerging markets with lower Facebook use, but it probably also reflects the widely observed lower engagement on Android. There may also be app quality issues.
“Aggregating this data makes another trend very clear,” Evans says. “Use of smartphone apps is surging as a share of Facebook, up from 240 million in September 2011 (30% of the total) to 470 million (44%) in September 2012.”
To read additional report summary highlights, click here.