Android leads mobile phone ad traffic, iOS overall leader thanks to iPad: Opera

Opera's latest State of Mobile Advertising report has revealed that Android with a mobile traffic share of 35.85 percent is ahead of iPhone, which has a share of 28.7 percent.

The report also claims that Android, despite leading in mobile phone traffic, is still behind iOS in terms of total traffic (including tablets) and monetisation, with Apple's OS retaining its overall lead across mobile platforms thanks in large part to the iPad.

The report notes, "Looking ahead, we expect to see Android's share of revenue continue to grow, but given how far ahead Apple is in the tablet space, we do not expect Android to take the lead for cross-platform monetization in 2014."

The report specifies that iOS leads with a total traffic share of 43.39 percent (iPhone 28.72 percent, iPad 10.59 percent and iPod Touch 4.08 percent), compared to Android with 37.71 percent (phones 35.85 percent and tablets 1.86 percent). In addition, the State of Mobile Advertising report also suggested that iOS is the leading platform in terms of monetisation (mobile advertising revenue) with 55.70 percent share of the market, while Android's share stands at 31.73 percent.

The State of Mobile Advertising report covers 425 million consumers, 60 billion impressions and 14,000 sites and apps. The report cites mobile advertising traffic data from the fourth quarter of 2013.

The report also reveals that the social networking services lead in mobile ad traffic volume, while music, video and media content generated the most revenue. The report also shows statistics for other platforms - Symbian had a 4.21 percent share of overall traffic, followed by BlackBerry with 2.11 percent, and lastly, Windows Phone, at 0.49 percent.

An earlier report by IBM had revealed that iOS device users were more prolific online shoppers in the US on Christmas Day last year, compared to their Android device counterparts. As per IBM, out of the total online sales in the US in the Christmas period last year, iOS accounted for five times the traffic of Android, driving 23 percent of total online sales traffic when compared to Android's 4.6 percent. The report also revealed that on average, iOS users spent $93.94 per purchase order, while Android users spent $48.10 per order, almost half.