toggle

AAPL Stock: 513.04 ( -1.81 )

Third of iPad owners not downloading apps, study suggests

updated 01:35 pm EDT, Thu October 21, 2010

Nielsen figures chart early patterns of iPad use


A large group of iPad owners, 32 percent, may not be downloading any apps from the App Store, a Nielsen study suggests. The figure comes from an August poll of 5,000 wireless device owners. Within the iPad contingent, only 63 percent had paid for at least one app. A sliver of people - 5 percent -- were downloading only free apps. As a rule, native iPad apps tend to be more expensive than ones compatible with the iPhone or iPod touch.

62 percent of paid app downloaders reported buying games. 54 percent bought books, whereas 50 percent bought music content. Productivity, sports and travel-planning apps proved the least popular categories, according to Nielsen, with travel apps in particular being downloaded by just 24 percent in the paid group.

Other data points show that iPad owners spend longer amounts of time with content than iPhone users. When compared against the rest of the survey group, they are also thought to be more susceptible to making a purchase after viewing an ad, whether at a store, over the phone, via a computer or directly from a mobile device.










by MacNN Staff

print
email
(17)

TAGS :

 industry, App Store, advertising, iPad, iPad apps

Related Articles

Recent Articles

toggle

Comments

  1. The Vicar

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2009

    0
    10/21, 01:44pm | report spam | Reply |

    Wait, that's not quite right...

    They found that people aren't BUYING apps, not that they aren't DOWNLOADING them. There are a lot of free ones. If I bought an iPad today, I probably wouldn't spend much, if anything, on apps, because on my iPod Touch (an old first-gen one), the paid apps are the ones I use least. But I'd still get a bunch of them.

  1. bleee

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Mar 2002

    -7
    10/21, 01:48pm | report spam | Reply |

    This is how I feel about buying apps

    From theoatmeal.com

    http://theoatmeal.com/blog/apps

  1. vintagegeek

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: May 2007

    +1
    10/21, 01:56pm | report spam | (1 reply) Reply |

    Find the App

    One serious problem is you can't find %&%^ in the App Store for the iPad. That is, you can't find anything that you could really use AND you can't find what your looking for when you do want something. There's no detailed listing pages. The search engine stinks, and everytime you go back you have to start over at the very beginning again. For a user interface company Apple has totally failed on the App Store for iPad/iPhone/iTouch. I have yet to download one of "their" recommendations. I've downloaded perhaps 50 apps for the iPod Touch but only 15 for the iPad. Paid for 2 of them. Basically the only way you find out about apps is by someone mentioning it in an article or podcast.

  1. pt123

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2007

    +4
    10/21, 02:09pm | report spam | Reply |

    no need for apps

    The ipad comes with email, browser and maps. I downloaded Netflix and solitare which are free. I really don't need anything else.

    Comment buried. Show
  1. Jonathan-Tanya

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2004

    -12
    10/21, 02:25pm | report spam | (2 replies) Reply |

    Off Topic

    So you have your iPad app and it runs one way.
    And the same app, you download it from the new app store to your MacBook Air, and it runs differently.

    You have a button on the iPad app, and you push it.

    The ported iOS app, has the same button, but you can't push it, you have to guess where the button might be represented on this pad below the keyboard.

    Steve usually gets it, how he can't see this strange incongruity, is beyond me.

    In this case, he will get it, when he sees the problem.
    He'll see it after those iOS get ported.

    When you can finally physically see the problem, touch it - like some concrete thinker, he'll finally see that, and nothing else.

    Steve is ordinarily a genius, I just can't believe he missed this one.

    Comment buried. Show
  1. Jonathan-Tanya

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2004

    -10
    10/21, 02:32pm | report spam | Reply |

    the other solution

    the other solution is to make the user learn the app twice.

    It's the same app, but it runs differently. You get in the habit of doing it one way on your iPad, and then you relearn a new habit, for no particular reason for your MBA.

    Imagine if MS did this. To get help on your desktop PC, you hit F1, to get help on your laptop, you hit Alt+F4. To get help on your netbook, hit Ctrl+H.

    It'd be like, what the heck, can't it work the same way?

    There is a learning curve to things, why create obstacles - why increase the overhead - why create more acquisition costs

    I don't get it. We are going to mimic a touch screen, using a pad below the keyboard.

    I love the comptuer, and I admit it works today - 2010.

    But by 2012, things won't look, as they do today.

  1. facebook_Toby

    Via Facebook

    Joined: Oct 2010

    +1
    10/21, 02:43pm | report spam | Reply |

    RE: business users

    This study should have also checked that the iPad was being used for personal or business use. The folks not buying apps or downloading them from the App store may have had corporate Apps distributed to them and had lock down not to purchase more.

    We also have people at my office where an iPad rotates among several people. They tend not to buy apps since they will be installed with various ids and not all be available, so maybe someone else on the team buys the apps.

  1. wrenchy

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2009

    -8
    10/21, 03:01pm | report spam | Reply |

    This just says that


    iPad owners are cheap.

  1. danangdoc

    Junior Member

    Joined: Jan 2007

    0
    10/21, 03:40pm | report spam | Reply |

    IPad Apps

    Yes, many iPads are in the corporate or specialty environment, but that's a small percentage of overall sales most likely. What was the rate of purchase of Apps when the iPod Touch came out? How does this compare? Many iPad owners also have an iPod Touch, an iPhone, or both, and may be happy with the apps they have on them, and don't feel the need to add more. I bought more the second year I owned my iPod than the first year. Yes, certainly there were more to chose from. Just because people aren't rushing in to buy iPad apps should not be a reason to suggest anything, other than the economy, until all the facts are known. Many bought the iPad just for the web, e-mail, and movies and may not care about anything else. Lets see where sales are in 6 months. I think people are rushing to judgement without knowing why this trend is occurring - they are just guessing. There may be a higher percentage of adult ownership as compared to iPods. When Lion comes to the Mac, what will be the rate of app sales then? Kind of depends on what's available, and if people want to spend more money on a touch-pad. We'll have to wait and see.

  1. tfmeehan

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2009

    +1
    10/21, 04:03pm | report spam | Reply |

    RE: Off Topic / RE: Other Solution

    Do you have a specific example or are you just inventing problems? If there was an interface issue why wouldn't the developer tweak the app before submitting it? Maybe Apple has developed tools to help the conversion. I doubt the reviewers will approve an app if they see those kind of problems.

    As to your button...any developer that leaves the use of a critical interface component up to chance is either stupid or lazy.

    More likely they will take the time to make it work like any other button on a Mac- move cursor, click.

Show More Comments

Login Here

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

 
close
Photo
toggle

Network Headlines

toggle

Most Popular

10 Most Read

Recent Reviews

Powerbag Business Class Bag

Many companies currently offer battery packs and various accessories to keep smartphones and other gadgets charged when away from an o ...

Logitech Cube

The world of mice could often be described charitably as stagnant: it's an endless sea of ergonomic shapes that assume you're sitting ...

NewerTech and Targus USB Hubs For Gifts

A useful holiday present to resolve an ongoing frustration is a multi-port hub. Whether as a stocking stuffer, Chanukah present, or an ...

toggle

Most Commented

10 Most Discussed

 

Popular News