これについては、ずっと言い続けられてきたことだし、ここでも散々書いてきたことと一致する。Android の台数シェアの多くが低価格モデルがアジア圏の低所得者層に普及したことによるということだ。つまり、元々可処分所得が低い層で消費支出が低い可能性が高い。オンラインショッピングをしない（クレジットカードを持っていない？）層だろう。対する Apple の購買層は比較的可処分所得が多い人が多い（自分は例外のヲタクだが）。
Apple のオンライン支出シェアが多いのは、この購買層の違いを表現しているだけだろう。Apple の UI が優れているからとか、端末がいいからというわけではない。同じ地域、同じ所得層で OS の違いによる購買率（個々人の全購買のうちでオンライン支出が占める割合）を比較しなければならない。
ただ、開発者やオンラインショッピングサイト経営者についてはこの数字は重要だろう。マーケティング的には、Android 向けには安価な商品の広告を出し、iOS には高価な商品の広告を出す事が効果的かもしれない。また、ネット広告屋に対して、OS 別に PV 単価を変えるように要求すべきかもしれない。ネット広告屋は iOS デバイスによる PV を高い単価に設定する根拠になるかもしれない。
日本市場でこのような違いがあるかは分からない。日本では安価な SIM ロックフリー端末が普及していないからだ。日本では2年縛りのロック端末の割引購入が主流で自分のようなビンボー人から会社の役員まで iPhone を使っている。しかも、日本では高収入な高齢者は iPhone を使っているか否かに関わらずモバイル端末によるネット購買をあまり使用しない。
Apples iOS Completely Blew Away Googles Android For Shopping On Christmas – Business Insider
Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS, continues to blow away Google’s Android in mobile commerce, according to IBM analytics.
IBM put out a press release about what it saw during Christmas. It’s not good for Android:
iOS vs. Android: As a percentage of total online sales, iOS was more than five times higher than Android, driving 23 percent vs. 4.6 percent for Android. On average, iOS users spent $93.94 per order, nearly twice that of Android users, who spent $48.10 per order. iOS also led as a component of overall traffic with 32.6 percent vs. 14.8 percent for Android.
Over and over we hear about Apple getting creamed by Android in marketshare, and yet, IBM’s data says that iOS is a clear cut winner when it comes to mobile traffic and shopping.
The caveat here is that this U.S. only data. But, in the U.S. iOS reportedly has a minority share of the smartphone market. Android is supposedly the biggest operating system.
So, the question is: What do people do with Android phones? Why don’t they use them for shopping, or surfing the web?
If this trend is true internationally as well as domestically, then Apple’s iPhone business is in even better shape than people think.
The only reason people think Apple is in trouble is because its share of the smartphone market is small. The debate around iOS and Android market share matters because historically, developers have gravitated to one platform and prioritized their efforts for that platform. The platform that typically wins has the most users.
As a result, the growth of Android would suggest developers are going to make the best apps for Android and thus relegate iOS to a second tier platform.
But, if the market share numbers are hollow — that is, if no one is using Android, despite big market share — then it doesn’t matter. Developers will develop for people that actually use the devices, and people that actually spend money on those devices.
There’s three ways for developers to make money: Selling apps, in-app payments, or advertising. People that don’t use apps, or don’t buy stuff through the device aren’t good targets for developers.
The IBM data isn’t all that new. It said the same thing at Thanksgiving.
What’s interesting is that if the IBM data was wildly wrong, Google would have probably contested it. We haven’t seen any evidence from Google, or developers, that these numbers are out of whack.
Maybe it’s time to admit that Apple is doing the exact right thing with its iPhone business.