Report: 80% of Mobile Video Views Happen on Apple Devices
UPDATED Mobile video is still a small part of overall online viewing, but it’s a part that Apple dominates, according to a new report by video monetization startup FreeWheel. In its Q1 2011 Video Monetization Report, FreeWheel said the vast majority of video views that occur on mobile devices happen on Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
FreeWheel reported that four-fifths of all mobile video views happen on Apple iOS devices. The iPhone and iPod touch each account for about 30 percent of all video views that happen on mobile devices, with the remaining 20 percent being attributed to Android devices, according to the report. Other devices account for less than one percent of all video views on mobile devices, according to FreeWheel.
The video ad startup attributes Apple’s dominance in mobile video to the early lead the company had in the mobile video market and the longer period of time consumers have had to get used to watching video on its devices. FreeWheel also hypothesizes that greater viewership on Apple devices represents the priorities of video publishers and mobile developers as well, who build for iOS devices first before moving on to other platforms.
The most surprising finding might be that despite having sold just 20 million tablets worldwide, Apple’s iPad already accounts for 20 percent of videos viewed on mobile devices, according to FreeWheel. We thought the iPad would be an ideal device for viewing video when it was announced, but the extent to which it has been embraced by even traditional video producers and distributors speaks to the power of the platform. TV networks like ABC and HBO have built applications for the iPad, as have pay TV operators like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and others.
While mobile video viewing accounts for just one percent of all online video views, according to the report, much of it was driven by news and live events. Mobile views peaked during Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, and also during the March Madness tournament, when viewers turned to their smartphones and mobile devices because they weren’t near a TV.
Update: As some commenters have noted, the data in this report only includes video views from FreeWheel’s ad clients, which include professional content creators and distributors. It doesn’t include user-generated content or videos from subscription or VOD services like Netflix.
