For a while now, many mobile experts believed that gameplay sessions for Android devices would top those for Apple’s iOS ones — and it appears that finally happened.
A new report from Chartboost indicates that Android devices have finally topped iOS devices in mobile game sessions, not only in the United States but also South and Central America. Both formats were neck-and-neck back in December, but at the beginning of the year, Android managed to press forward with 51 percent of game sessions, compared to 49 percent for iOS.
It only got better for Android in February, as its lead extended by three percent, for a total of 54 percent of game sessions on mobile devices.
That’s a small victory for Android, even though Chartboost indicated that iOS gamers still tend to spend more money on their game sessions, with popular titles like Clash of Clans and Candy Crush Soda Saga.
As you can see from the chart above, iOS and Android have gone almost opposite directions in success since August 2014, with IOS having the lead with 56 percent and Android behind with 44 percent. It’s easy to see that the tables have turned.
Now the question is what’s next — and Chartboost’s CEO and co-founder Maria Alegre believes that more developers could make the switch to Android as the first target for games in the future. “While iOS has typically been where game developers start with user acquisition, we see the window of exclusive focus on iOS shrinking,” she explained.
While iOS will continue to have a stronghold over the market, Alegre believes that Android should become more relevant. The ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) for both iOS and Android games are becoming a bit more parallel, instead of Apple’s devices simply taking the lead. “That combination of higher traffic and smaller difference between ARPU will make Android overall a more attractive business opportunity,” she said.
Provided it can make all the right business moves, this could be a big year for Android as the gameplayer’s mobile OS.
