The Digital Reach Group (DRG) can, for the first time, reveal the state of the Irish smart phone market. The research is published in advance of the launch of the iPhone from Vodafone.
DRG has produced statistical estimates on smart phone market share, usage patterns and the amount of iPhones in circulation.
DRG’s ad network, known as Adforce, consists of RTÉ, Vodafone, Meteor and Bebo and served up a total of 80 million ads in seven months reaching over 500,000 people.
The key findings of DRG’s research are:
•    Approximately 250,000 iPhones are currently active on Irish networks
•    While O2 makes up the highest proportion of iPhone mobile traffic at 35%, 10% of iPhone traffic already comes from Vodafone iPhone devices ahead of the company launching the handset
•    The most popular individual smart phone handset is the Apple iPhone followed by handsets from Nokia’s E and N series and Blackberry’s 8000 series respectively
•    iPhone traffic was static between September and November 2009 but increased by 50% in December 2009 versus November.  This is possibly due to O2’s free iPhone offer in advance of the end of its exclusivity deal with Apple for the handset
•    Apple traffic on the network is divided at 82% for the iPhone and 18% for the iPod Touch
•    Google’s Android system is a new entrant into the Irish market but is making rapid inroads at 0.5% already since the launch of HTC’s Hero handset on Meteor last October
•    Peaks and troughs in usage are less pronounced for iPhones than other devices, as people tend to use them far more regularly throughout the day. This reinforces the idea that there are benefits to combining usability with an attractive data tariff.
•    The top five handset manufacturers on the network are 1. Nokia  2. Sony Ericsson 3. Research In Motion (Blackberry) 4. Samsung 5. Apple
The video above shows how far we have all come in terms of mobile technology.

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