Mobile advertising firm AdMob has released some numbers on ad impressions on iPhone vs other smart phones and the result is, well, that Apple is basically a 50kg flyweight boxer competing against Sumo wrestlers 5 times it weight (8% smartphone footprint but more than 40% ad impression share).

Now, very (!) crudely put, this does not mean that it is 8 times as successful on mobile advertising. It does mean however that users are 8 times more likely to use applications where ads are being displayed. Here’s some of their stats:

iPhone Apps (in AdMob’s network):

  • The top iPhone apps had more than one million users in the UK in May 2009
  • 5% of iPhone apps had more than 100,000 active users in May 2009
  • 14% of iPhone apps had between 10,000 – 100,000 active users in May 2009
  • 27% of iPhone apps had between 1,000 – 10,000 active users in May 2009

Mobile web browsing market in May 2009:

UK:

  • 48.7% of ad requests came from Apple handsets (iPhone and iPod Touch)
  • 28.4% of ad requests came from the iPhone
  • 282,493,761 ad requests from users in the UK

US:

  • 45.1% of ad requests came from Apple handsets
  • 25.7% of ad requests came from the iPhone
  • 3,804,373,544 ad requests from users in the US

Global:

  • 31.4% of ad requests came from Apple handsets
  • 18.6% of ad requests came from the iPhone
  • 7,997,946,483 ad requests from users around the world

Interestingly, MEF and MBlox Chairman Andrew Bud (who is being quoted at the end of the article) said that Apple’s app store compared to Nokia’s Ovi Store like a niche boutique to Tesco (or, if you are in the US, Walmart). Is that so? No it is not. And here’s why:

Apple is a boutique with more items on sale than a Tesco megastore. And its (less) customers buy trolleys full of wares. Moreover, their high-spending customers leave the store with a spring in their step and committed to come back the next day.

Nokia is a super-store with gazillion potential (!) customers where 1 in 20 stroll through aisles stocked with not so cool things and most of them walk out without buying anything and, on top of that, feeling fairly downtrodden and frustrated about what was on offer.

So, for the time being, I’d choose the Apple boutique. If that choice changes will depend on whether Nokia will manage to stock their shelves with more compelling wares and improve on their tills (less queuing, more bang for your buck, etc). Oh, and get those cold strip-lights replaced, please!