iAd Is Losing Marketshare To Dumbphones

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iad

After repeatedly being bashed by Apple, here some good news for RIM: mobile advertisers aren’t abandoning the platform, but actually taking a second look with dumb phone advertising rising, says one advertising network Wednesday.


In a surprising comeback for the gang that couldn’t shoot straight, mobile ads displayed on RIM devices grew 6 percent in May, as “feature phones” comprised 17 percent of the Smartphone, Feature Phone and Connected Devices mix in May measured by Millennial Media. A possible clue to the surprising finding: the BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry Bold 2 ranked in the top five mobile phones served ads.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple lead for the 20th consecutive month with nearly 31 percent of the device market. Apple’s closest competitor, Samsung, came in No. 2 with 13.9 percent, according to the measurement firm. Additionally, ads displayed on iPads grew by nearly a third, registering a 29 percent increase from April.

However, for the glass-half-empty crowd, this morning’s report also held some concerns. The iOS lead over Android shrank somewhat, falling to 45 percent versus 43 percent in May, down from 50 percent versus Android’s 39 percent seen in April. Likewise, Android phones slightly increased its lead over the iPhone to 53 percent versus 27 percent in May, up from 53 percent versus 28 percent in April, according to the ad network.

Are dumbphones gaining in traction as users get sick of expensive, super-advanced handsets or move on to tablets for most of their mobile computing needs? Or is this just a weird little blip? Let us know what you think.

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