Peter Kafka

Recent Posts by Peter Kafka

Watching a Video on Your Phone? You’re Probably Using an iPhone, Not an Android.

From the “Android is from Mars, Apple is from Venus” files, another reminder that the kind of phone you have influences what you do with that phone.

Or maybe it’s a reminder that people buy different kinds of phones because they want to do different things with them.

Or something. In any event: People who own iPhones use them to watch a lot more video than people who own Android phones. Twice as much, according to Web video company Ooyala.

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The main caveat here is that Ooyala isn’t measuring all Web video everywhere — just the stuff that it serves up via its own service and player. But Ooyala handles a lot of video — it boasts some 200 million unique viewers worldwide — so it has at least some insight into the way people watch stuff.

The other caveat is that this gap will probably close over time. The second chart in that Ooyala graphic shows Android device shipments versus iOS shipments for 2012, per IDC. If people keep choosing Android over Apple at that pace, then the numbers should get closer as the Android installed base gets bigger.

Still: Is there something about Android itself that discourages video use? I’ve heard a couple theories, but am happy to hear from you folks; we can return to this one in a bit.

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