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Internet metrics giant settles charges it faked its own numbers
The online ad world (among others) thrives on metrics to gauge how well its campaigns are working, but what happens when the company providing that data is cooking its own books? The industry is grappling with that issue today. Comscore and its former CEO Serge Matta have settled SEC charges they committed fraud to artificially inflate revenue by $50 million and otherwise inflate their metrics between 2014 and 2016. Reportedly, Matta had Comscore join "non-monetary transactions" where it would exchange data without expecting money, but recognized revenue on that data based on an inflated sense of its value -- and lied to both accountants and auditors about it. That, in turn, made it look like Comscore was growing at an unrealistic pace.
ComScore: Most people in the US don't download apps on a regular basis
While smartphone apps come in handy for a variety of uses from sharing photos to navigating a new locale, it appears that most folks in the US barely download them at all. According to ComScore, 65.5 percent of those users 18 and above who wield a handset in the US go a full month without visiting their respective app store for new material. This means that 34.5 percent load up at least one new selection every 30 days, and figures indicate that the top 7 percent of users are responsible for around half of a month's total. What's more, the iOS crowd primarily focuses on news, radio, photos, social networks and weather, while the Android faithful fire up Google Search and Gmail most often. And to the surprise of no one, Facebook is tops in terms of popularity and amount of time spent on its app. All of that said, most folks seem to load up their phones with the usual suspects early on, and don't tend to divide their attention too often thereafter.
Apple's US smartphone share climbs to 40.6%
Apple's share of the US smartphone market climbed from July to October of this year, but only by a small margin, according to new data from comScore. The newest report showed a 0.2 percentage point increase for Apple, moving from 40.4 percent to 40.6 percent, and the company remains the top smartphone manufacturer in the states by a very wide margin. Samsung was the biggest mover on the chart, climbing 1.3 percentage points to 25.4 percent of overall share, with Motorola grabbing a 0.1 percentage point bump to 7 percent. Meanwhile, HTC and LG both lost share, dropping 1.3 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively. In terms of platform market share, Android is still king with 52.2 percent, while Apple remains in second place at 40.6 percent.
Google Maps for iPhone losing share to Apple Maps app
Despite a launch that was misdirecting drivers, moving Australian towns and otherwise making people quite unhappy, the Apple Maps app appears to be not only getting over its initial issues, but also gaining a tremendous amount of market share -- at the expense of Google Maps. 9to5Mac's Ben Lovejoy is reporting that the user base for Google Maps dropped significantly after the introduction of iOS 6 in September of 2012, which is of course when Apple replaced Google's map and navigation app with their own app. But even with the reappearance of the Google Maps app in the App Store, Google Maps lost 23 million iPhone users in the US in the last year. Numbers from ComScore apparently show that 35 million iPhone owners used Apple Maps in September of 2013, while only 6 million users were using Google Maps. About 2 million of those using Google Maps are on older versions of the iPhone that cannot run Apple's Maps app. To quote Lovejoy, "when Apple pre-installs software, mass-market owners don't go looking for alternatives." That's even true when the alternative -- in this case Google Maps -- is technically a much more accurate application.
ComScore: Apple up to 39 percent US smartphone share in February, Android on top at 52 percent
While there's no question that Android is thriving on the global scale, the situation is a little more complicated in the US when looking at ComScore's market share data for February. The platform is still comfortably ahead in the American smartphone sphere at 51.7 percent, but the figure represents the second consecutive dip in recent months, and roughly matches share that we saw back in June. Apple is headed in the opposite direction and appears to be the main beneficiary of Google's drop, albeit at a less-than-breakneck pace: the iPhone continued a gradual climb in February that put it at 38.9 percent. We're not surprised that BlackBerry declined once more in its last month before the Z10 reached the US, although Microsoft will be happy to hear that Windows Phone inched forward again to 3.2 percent. Among individual smartphone makers, it's more of a familiar story. Apple's platform control gave it the lead at 38.9 percent, while Samsung at 21.3 percent was hovering roughly around the same share it had in January. As for everyone else? It's a bit ugly, to be honest. HTC, Motorola and LG all lost share in February, leaving the US firmly in a two-horse race. That said, we wouldn't be surprised if the market plays a different tune around April and May: with 2013 Android flagships like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4 just around the corner, there's room for a potential upset.
Apple.com world's 8th most popular website in new ComScore ranking
For 2012, Apple's website was ranked as the world's 11th most popular. However, that ranking did not take mobile access into account -- just desktop access. Now web analytics firm ComScore has added mobile visitors and viewers to their count, pushing Apple up to the No. 8 spot on the MMX Multi-Platform Top 50 Properties list. The first five sites on the list are not surprising, with Google sites taking the lead followed by Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon. Sites run by TUAW parent company AOL are in the sixth spot, followed by Glam Media and, finally, Apple. Rounding out the top 10 are Wikimedia sites and CBS Interactive. Apple's total "digital population" on the ComScore list is counted as 115,920,000 unique visitors/viewers, about half that of list-leading Google's count. Not surprisingly, Apple's mobile audience viewed as an incremental percentage to the desktop numbers was 54 percent, indicating a strong mobile presence on the web.
ComScore: Apple strengthens lead as top US handset maker in early 2013, Android takes a small hit
The latest numbers from ComScore show Apple strengthening its lead as the top US handset maker, with the iPhone nabbing an estimated 37.8 percent of the market as of January 2013. That's a 3.5-point boost from October of last year, putting healthy distance between Cupertino and the number-two smartphone maker, Samsung. That's not to say the Korean giant hasn't grown as well; its estimated 21.4-percent slice of the pie is up a more modest 1.9 points. Apple's growth on the hardware front naturally has implications on the software side, and indeed this is the first time Android took a hit while iOS grew. According to the survey, Google's OS still maintains a healthy 52.3 percent compared to Apple's 37.8, but it's down 1.3 points while iOS saw a small boost. Where does that leave BlackBerry, Windows Phone and the rest of the gang? Pretty far behind -- as you can see for yourself in the chart below the break.
Yandex passes Bing to become fourth largest search provider according to comScore
Bing, Microsoft's attempt to take on Google directly. When it first launched there was quite a bit of fanfare and its market share grew quickly. It didn't exactly hack away at Mountain View's dominance, but it certainly made a small dent. Since then, things have slowed down and other players have asserted themselves in the global search battlefield. While Baidu has been riding high for quite some time, Yandex is a relative new-comer to the leader board. And, somewhat surprisingly, has already surpassed Microsoft for global market share according to stats provided to us by comScore. Though the margin is small, the Russian company saw more searches performed through its site than Microsoft in both November and December of 2012. The difference is small enough that those positions could swap again but, where as Bing has seen its numbers plateau over the last six months, Yandex has continued to grow. Of course, neither is anywhere near challenging Google which accounts for roughly 65 percent of the search traffic according to comScore's numbers and both only see about half the traffic of the number three competitor, Yahoo. Microsoft can still claim one victory over Yandex in the number of unique searchers, though. If you're curious for more we've put the entire chart after the break.
ComScore: iPhone up to 36 percent of US phone share in December, Android stayed put
There's been indications that Apple staged something of a comeback in the US during the fourth quarter, owing partly to an iPhone 5-related spike. ComScore's smartphone share data for December appears to bear that out. It estimates that the Apple claimed a 36.3 percent slice of the American market in the last month of 2012: that's a noticeable boost from 35 percent in November, and two points up since the iPhone 5's September arrival. Android remained on top at 53.4 percent, but it was once again unusually static, edging down from highs earlier in the year. Other platforms took their usual blows, although there's no doubt some hopes for revival. Just don't anticipate looking for overall cellphone market share. ComScore has switched to focusing on smartphones, and it's telling a different story than we've seen in the past. When only smartphones count, Samsung's December share left it in second place, at 21 percent -- still an increase over prior months, but not as large as Apple's 36.3 percent. The biggest surprise is LG's rise to 7.1 percent and fifth place, quite possibly due to the Optimus G and Nexus 4. Enough shifted that the market may be even less recognizable in 2013, for better or worse.
Apple gains more ground in US smartphone share
ComScore is out with its latest look at how Apple and its competitors are faring in the ongoing war for smartphone market share in the US. According to the firm's latest sampling of 300,000 cellular subscribers, Apple's lead doesn't look to be slowing. As of December 2012, Apple holds a 36.3% share of the US smartphone market, up two points from its 34.3% share in September 2012. Samsung also gained with a 21% share, while in September 2012 is was at 18.7%. HTC, Motorola and LG comprise the rest of the top five OEMs at 10.2%, 9.1% and 7.1% market share, respectively. iOS continues to trail behind Android in terms of mobile OS share, but it's gaining ground. As of December, Apple's operating system held a 36.3% share versus Google's 53.4%, with Android seeing an increase of less than 1%. In terms of other competitors, BlackBerry was third at 6.4% but that was down 2% from September. Windows Phone ranked only 2.9% and Symbian -- yes, Symbian -- came in last at a mere 0.6%. [Via TheNextWeb]
The Daily Roundup for 01.04.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
ComScore: iPhone up to 35 percent of US smartphone share in November, Android steady
Smartphone launches sometimes have to build up steam before they can go full speed ahead. Apple might be learning this first-hand, based on ComScore's figures. After a lackluster October, the company's just-reported November smartphone market share in the US was up sharply, to 35 percent; while the spike isn't directly credited to the iPhone 5, rapidly growing availability of the company's newest smartphone certainly didn't hurt. Android was still comfortably ruling the roost at 53.7 percent, although its share was only a slight increase over October. As such, most of Apple's gain during the month came from smaller rivals' pain. It was a more familiar story among individual phone makers. Samsung had a comfortable lead at 26.9 percent of the larger American cellphone market in November, while Apple padded its advantage over a sinking LG to hit 18.5 percent. With Motorola and HTC also on the downward slide, the US market this fall was increasingly mirroring its global counterpart, where it was really Apple and Samsung's game to play -- others might have to be content watching from the sidelines in the future.
Survey: iPhones in the hands of 18.5 percent of US smartphone users
Smartphones account for a little over half (53 percent) of all mobile phones in the US, and comScore's latest numbers show that Apple's iPhones now account for 18.5 percent of the smartphones in the hands of American mobile users. That number, from November 2012, is up 1.4 percent from three months earlier, representing the largest jump for a smartphone manufacturer. Samsung still holds the largest share of mobile subscribers at 26.9 percent, up from 25.7 percent three months earlier. Manufacturers LG, Motorola and HTC all saw small declines in share during the survey period. Apple overtook LG in the No. 2 spot on the list. In terms of mobile platforms, Android is still the king with a whopping 53.7 percent of the market. That share figure is up 1.1 percent over August 2012. Apple's iOS platform also increased in market share by 0.7 percent, ending up at a 35 percent share at the end of November. Who were the losers in terms of top smartphone platforms? RIM, Microsoft and Symbian. RIM's BlackBerry platform now accounts for only a 7.3 percent share of the smartphone market, while various Microsoft smartphone operating systems accounted for 3 percent of the market. Symbian continued its descent into oblivion, dropping 0.2 percentage points to a barely registered 0.5 percent market share. [via MacRumors]
ComScore: Apple ousts LG as second most popular mobile phone maker
According to research firm ComScore's latest report, Apple has reached the #2 spot on the list of most popular mobile phone makers, taking the slot previously held by LG. iPhone users now account for 17.8% of the U.S. mobile market, while LG tags close behind at 17.6%. Samsung still leads all other manufacturers with 26.3% market share, up from 25.6% just three months prior. Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S III are likely the two biggest factors in both company's recent gains. Motorola and HTC both rank below LG on the list, accounting for 11% and 6.4% of the market, respectively.
ComScore: Android's US share kept growing in October, Apple passed LG in all cellphones
We've been wondering how much the first full month of iPhone 5 sales would skew US market share in October. The answer is... not much, if you ask ComScore. Android kept growing to 53.6 percent of American smartphones on the back of the Droid RAZR M, Galaxy Note II and other devices, but the iPhone's market share just managed to remain steady at the same 34.3 percent as in September. Apple could mostly be glad that it wasn't in the position of its older rivals: the BlackBerry dipped below 8 percent share, while the wait for a Windows Phone 8 turnaround may have triggered a sharp drop in Microsoft's stake to 3.2 percent. There was a symbolic (if anticipated) changing of the guard for the wider American market, however. After months of closing in, Apple just barely edged out LG to become the second-largest cellphone maker of any kind on the US stage at 17.8 percent. A familiar scenario elsewhere kept Samsung once again on top at 26.3 percent, while Motorola and HTC remained on a downward slide. We'll be keeping a close eye on how the November results alter the status quo -- between Windows Phone, LG's Optimus G and a cavalcade of multi-device launches, there's been potential for more than one tidal shift in the mobile world in the past few weeks.
ComScore: Black Friday online spending rings in at a record $1.04 billion
Considering the parody-worthy dangers of America's busiest shopping day, it's no surprise to hear that online consumerism is on the rise. According to ComScore, 57.3 million Americans took their wallets to digital storefronts on Black Friday, spending a record $1.04 billion in the process. "With Black Friday online sales up 26 percent and surpassing $1 billion for the first time, coupled with early reports indicating that Black Friday sales in retail stores were down 1.8 percent, we can now confidently call it a multi-channel marketing phenomenon," stated ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. The organization also noted that digital content sales are on the rise, too, citing a 29 percent increase in the category over the same period last year. Finally, Fulgoni projected Cyber Monday sales in excess of $1.5 billion, based on observations culled from the years past. Read on for ComScore's official numbers.
ComScore: US smartphone share leveled off in September, Android and iPhone continued their reigns
We're so used to constant flux in smartphone market share that it's a surprise when things don't move. Yet that's what we're facing today. ComScore found that the US smartphone field in September was virtually unchanged from where it was in August, even down to smaller players like Symbian and Windows Phone. Accordingly, Android still ruled the roost at 52.5 percent, while 34.3 percent were iPhone adopters. It's difficult to say whether or not the iPhone 5 had a tangible impact -- while Apple had banner sales in the last several days of September, we don't know to what extent that was offset by people holding off from buying an iPhone 4S. Overall cellphone sales showed some of that more reassuring give and take. The positions remained the same, but the US was once again a painful market to be in for anyone that isn't Apple or Samsung. Apple crept up to within a stone's throw of toppling LG at 17.5 percent to its rival's 17.7, while Samsung's successful shift to smartphones helped it keep exactly 26 percent of the mobile sphere. We're most curious to see how October shakes out: between a full month of iPhone 5 sales and the Droid RAZR HD, we may learn that the calmness of September was just a momentary illusion.
ComScore: iPhone grew to 34 percent US share in a pre-iPhone 5 world, Android still on top at 52 percent
Apple is all too used to the rumor cycle affecting its sales: the company just saw a dip in sequential iPhone shipments this spring as customers waited for what would ultimately become the iPhone 5. If you believe ComScore's US smartphone market share estimates, though, Apple wasn't the worse for wear this August. While the iPhone was in the doldrums this spring, it jumped almost a whole point versus an already positive July to hit 34.3 percent; we're wondering if last-minute discounts played a part in keeping iPhone 4S sales healthy. Google didn't have much to fear and saw Android climb to 52.6 percent, even if its ascent wasn't as rapid as that of its Bay Area neighbor. RIM took the brunt of the losses and dipped to just 8.3 percent of the market in what's increasingly a two-horse race, although Microsoft's Windows Phone held its ground at 3.6 percent. The wider US cellphone market tells a familiar story, with Samsung on top. There's signs that the narrative is very close to changing, however: LG and Apple are now close enough, at one point's difference, that Apple could seize second place by the time we see ComScore's figures for September. Before interpreting Apple's performance as some sign of a wider reversal of fortune, just remember that most of its challenges are on the world stage. There's no guarantee that the Android-focused markets beyond American borders have been as receptive to iPhone price drops and updates.
ComScore: Android tops 52 percent of US smartphone share, iPhone cracks the 33 percent mark
Both Apple and Google have reasons to break out the champagne in the wake of ComScore's latest market share figures. Android is still sitting prettier than ever and just reached a new high of 52.2 percent for US smartphone share as of this past July, no doubt in part through at least a few Galaxy S III sales. Not that Apple is worrying about its US stake just yet, as the iPhone just passed the one-third mark to hit 33.4 percent -- it gained share faster than Android in the space of the preceding three months. We don't have much good news elsewhere, though, as the BlackBerry lost its hold on two-digit market share at the same time as Windows and Symbian continued to cede ground. As for the overall cellphone space? The familiar pecking order of Samsung, LG, Apple, Motorola and HTC remains intact, although only Apple and HTC gained any traction with their respective 16.3 percent and 6.4 percent slices of the pie. LG has dropped quickly enough that it's now within Apple's crosshairs at 18.4 percent. As significant as the shifts can be, we're most interested in what happens two months down the line, when ComScore can report September share: a certain phone's launch is likely to skew the numbers, regardless of what HTC and Motorola bring to the table. Just be advised that US market share isn't everything.
ComScore: Android back above 51 percent of US share, iOS still growing briskly
We're starting to see a distinct shift in US smartphone market share that leaves Android having to share the spotlight. ComScore's results for this past June have Google hitting a new high of 51.6 percent share, which still gives it something to crow about -- that's both a small increase over a month earlier and a return to the 51 percent mark. However, Android is still competing with an iOS platform that's been growing at a healthy rate, reaching 32.4 percent of the American space. The fuel for both sides comes from an all too familiar decline in BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows share. Samsung is still in the top spot as far as manufacturers, although it's shrinking where Apple and HTC are on the way up. We'll be looking to see how much the Galaxy S III affects the numbers during the summer, but less patient observers can get the manufacturer results after the break and the full scoop on current market share at the source.
