Android smartphone users in the US consume 90MB more data per month than a typical iPhone user, analysis by Nielsen Wire shows.
A monthly review of user bills places Android top of the list in terms of data downloads on 582 MB, while the average iPhone user’s consumption of 492 MB nets the operating system second place. Windows Phone 7 ranked third at end March on 317 MB – more than double the figure in 4Q10.
While the WP7’s growth is credited to a growing number of applications becoming available for the platform, it comes against a backdrop of growing smartphone data consumption and falling per MB costs – down to $0.08 (€0.05) in 1Q11 from $0.14 in 1Q10. The lower prices have combined with growing smartphone penetration – now 37% of the country’s mobile user base – to fuel an 89% increase in overall data usage to 435 MB in the first quarter.
The upper tiers enjoyed the highest growth, with the 90th percentile consuming 109% more data per month, and the 99th showing a 155% rise.