According to the Q2 report from publishing firm AdFonic, Android has surpassed iOS for the first time in the number of mobile ad impressions served globally.

Google’s Android operating system accounts for 46% of the ads served by Admedia during Q2 2012 (up from 38% in Q1), while iOS stands at 34 percent, down 11 points since Q1. Although Apple’s iOS served more mobile ads in South America than any other platform, Android beats iOS (by the number of ads served via the AdFonic network) everywhere else, and is the #1 platform on the three most important continents: Asia, Europe, and North America.

Adfonic reports that the total number of ad requests has increased 15% quarterly, standing at 79bn ad requested during the second quarter. Europe has passed North America in the number of ad-requests for the second quarter, and is now the second most ad-eager continent, with 25bn ad requests, 34% up from last quarter. North America has requested 19bn ads, and stands in third place, while the top spot is reserved for Asia, a continent that has requested 27.5bn ads.

In North America (the only continent where Android has served more ads than iOS during Q1 2012), the Android OS was used to display 63% (17 percent quarterly increase) of the mobile ads served by AdFonic during Q2 2012, while iOS stands in second with 30%, less than half when compared to Android, and down 12 percent since Q1 2011. The BlackBerry OS has lost 4 points and stands in third position, with just 4% of the North American ad impressions.

 

In Europe, Android has gained 8 percentage points since the last quarter and now stands at 43%. Apple has lost 7 points and is now at 34%, while RIM has gained 2% and stands in third, with an 18% market share.

In Asia, the percentage of ads served by AdFonic via Apple’s iOS has dropped 14 points, down to 38%. In contrast, Android has gained 4 points and now stands at 40%, but what’s really interesting is that Nokia’s Symbian OS has raised 10 percent and now stands in third, at 19%.

At a manufacturer level, Apple still has the biggest market share of them all (34%), although its popularity has dropped by 12%. Samsung has managed to become a true contender for Apple and now stands at 23%, up 5 points since Q1. RIM and Nokia have each gained 2 points of market share and stand at 10% and 9% respectively. The last spot in the top 5 manufacturers is occupied by HTC, whose devices were used to display 7% of the mobile ads served by AdFonic. If you want to dig deeper into the stats, I invite you to take a closer look at the official report.

Does any of this surprise you? It really shouldn’t!

 

Source: AndroidAuthority