iPhone Rules The Skies

[MacRumors]

iPhones make up close to two-thirds of mobile devices using Gogo's inflight Wi-Fi service, according to All Things Digital. iPod touch devices cover another 20%, while Android makes up just 12% of devices using Gogo.

BlackBerries account for 6 percent while Windows Mobile and other mobiles aren't used enough to count.

AllThingsD notes the iPad isn't included in the mobile numbers. Mobile devices pay slightly lower charges than larger devices like tablets and laptops do. Though, the iPad is popular too, clocking in with more than a third of larger devices. Windows as a whole counted as 41% and Macs just under 20%.

Article Link: iPhone Rules The Skies

 

[*LTD*]

If plane tickets were free you'd see Android ruling the skies.

 

[ratzzo]

Would be nice if you also included prices as I wasn't aware they actually offered WiFi and suspect their prices are out of this world. I went on a cruise some time ago, and they charged 13 eur the hour for satellite wifi (30kb/s and huge latency).

I wish more flight companies offered this service though, after a quick look with Google it turns out only a selected handful do. And nearly none in the southwestern Europe region outside business/first class.

 

[Scott90]

Would be nice if you also included prices as I wasn't aware they actually offered WiFi and suspect their prices are out of this world. I went on a cruise some time ago, and they charged 13 eur the hour for satellite wifi (30kb/s and huge latency).

I wish more flight companies offered this service though, after a quick look with Google it turns out only a selected handful do. And nearly none in the southwestern Europe region outside business/first class.

It's domestic US flights only, and I think you pay $8 for a handheld device and $10 for laptops. If you fly from NY to LA it's definitely worth it, but short two hour flights (which basically means only an hour of actual usage--they only turn it on above 10,000 feet), not really.

Last year Google sponsored free WiFi in the air for a limited time, so I used that. Speed was actually not bad.

 

[applesith]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_9 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E501 Safari/6533.18.5)

Like a G6

 

[NebulaClash]

If plane tickets were free you'd see Android ruling the skies.

Oh no you didn't!

Heh, it's so funny how we get story after story about Android's dominance when it comes to activation or total sales or sheer number of devices. But when it comes to usage, it's iOS that rules the world. What is it with these millions of Android users who don't use their devices to go online? Are they just asking for a "smart" phone, handed an Android, and thereafter only use the phone function with, maybe, the address book app?

 

[nylonsteel]

If plane tickets were free you'd see Android ruling the skies.

+1 good one - i dream of flying first class on Quantas A380 upper decker with an iphone5

 

[Caliber26]

WiFi in the sky is, hands down, the best! Makes flying so much fun, when you can just sit down and catch up with personal emails, gossip sights, and Facebook.

MacRumors always gets fit into my hourly schedule, so need to catch up with that.

 

[Laird Knox]

Oh no you didn't!

Heh, it's so funny how we get story after story about Android's dominance when it comes to activation or total sales or sheer number of devices. But when it comes to usage, it's iOS that rules the world. What is it with these millions of Android users who don't use their devices to go online? Are they just asking for a "smart" phone, handed an Android, and thereafter only use the phone function with, maybe, the address book app?

Don't forget SMS. Gotta have a smart phone for the SMS.

 

[ScottHammet]

It's All About Affluence

If plane tickets were free you'd see Android ruling the skies.

That's right. Android may be more prevalent, but that's only because it's cheaper, not better. What these statistics tell me is that, for those that can afford to choose, they choose an iOS device. Flying's not just for the rich, but if you're flying and you're also dropping the coin on the WIFI fee, etc. there's a good chance you can afford whatever mobile device you want, and it would seem that's an iOS device.

 

[Tommy Wasabi]

You need to ask WHY?

Why iPhone over Android?

The answer is simple. Uptake on wifi enabled flights are driven by 2 key things: 1. The length of the flight >3 hours 4-7x the number of activations vs. lengths of flights < 3 hours.
2. The airline. Virgin has a "hipper" demographic than say - Delta. (Delta also flies a lot of flights < 3 hours. So even when Delta flies 4x the number of wifi enabled flights - Virgin actually sells more activations. People that fly Virgin also have a larger % of iPhones than Androids.

So what do these two things have to do with iPhone vs. Android? The obvious choice: There are more iPhones in corporate America than Androids. Business flyers expense the activation fee or have a subscription (if they fly a lot). But wait you say - if this is true then Blackberry would be leading the pack. Ever try to use the internet on a Blackberry? On a plane flying at 550 mph? 'nuff said.

So it isn't that iPhone usage is higher than Android - it's just that people that buy wifi on flights - tend to be iPhone users. Or - another thought - iPhone users are use to paying for their apps - so iPhones users just spend more money than Android users.

TW

 

[wovel]

If plane tickets were free you'd see Android ruling the skies.

Post of the year, congratulations.

 

[Laird Knox]

Why iPhone over Android?

The answer is simple. Uptake on wifi enabled flights are driven by 2 key things: 1. The length of the flight >3 hours 4-7x the number of activations vs. lengths of flights < 3 hours.
2. The airline. Virgin has a "hipper" demographic than say - Delta. (Delta also flies a lot of flights < 3 hours. So even when Delta flies 4x the number of wifi enabled flights - Virgin actually sells more activations. People that fly Virgin also have a larger % of iPhones than Androids.

So what do these two things have to do with iPhone vs. Android? The obvious choice: There are more iPhones in corporate America than Androids. Business flyers expense the activation fee or have a subscription (if they fly a lot). But wait you say - if this is true then Blackberry would be leading the pack. Ever try to use the internet on a Blackberry? On a plane flying at 550 mph? 'nuff said.

So it isn't that iPhone usage is higher than Android - it's just that people that buy wifi on flights - tend to be iPhone users. Or - another thought - iPhone users are use to paying for their apps - so iPhones users just spend more money than Android users.

TW

Book a flight based on how hip the airline is?

 

[DeathChill]

Why iPhone over Android?

The answer is simple. Uptake on wifi enabled flights are driven by 2 key things: 1. The length of the flight >3 hours 4-7x the number of activations vs. lengths of flights < 3 hours.
2. The airline. Virgin has a "hipper" demographic than say - Delta. (Delta also flies a lot of flights < 3 hours. So even when Delta flies 4x the number of wifi enabled flights - Virgin actually sells more activations. People that fly Virgin also have a larger % of iPhones than Androids.

So what do these two things have to do with iPhone vs. Android? The obvious choice: There are more iPhones in corporate America than Androids. Business flyers expense the activation fee or have a subscription (if they fly a lot). But wait you say - if this is true then Blackberry would be leading the pack. Ever try to use the internet on a Blackberry? On a plane flying at 550 mph? 'nuff said.

So it isn't that iPhone usage is higher than Android - it's just that people that buy wifi on flights - tend to be iPhone users. Or - another thought - iPhone users are use to paying for their apps - so iPhones users just spend more money than Android users.

TW

The issue with this logic is that it appears in every usage statistic I've seen. WiFi connections in restaurants, website traffic, app buying, etc. iPhone users just seem to be much more active in using their devices.

 

[jeman]

If plane tickets were free you'd see Android ruling the skies.

Roger that.

 

[kdarling]

Doesn't matter who made the device, the people who act more interested in their gizmo than in their companions, are just plain (fill in the blank).

 

[NebulaClash]

Somewhat related, the Verizon quarterly results were interesting since it was the first full quarter of iPhone availability during a time when Verizon was pushing the Droid message hard:

2.3M iPhones activated
1.2M LTE and Android devices

So in Verizon's case, take every Android phone, Android tablet, whatever and they sold half as many as just the iPhone.

I realize this is one provider in one country, but I thought it was interesting to see how demand went for the company once a customer could select any phone they wanted and that was in the marketplace.

 

[winston1236]

iphone users are "upper" class? haha let the hate come

 

[kdarling]

2.3M iPhones activated
1.2M LTE and Android devices

So in Verizon's case, take every Android phone, Android tablet, whatever and they sold half as many as just the iPhone.

That 1.2 million was made up of only LTE capable dongles and phones.

The number of non-iPhone 3G smartphones sold was not mentioned.

 

[jacobo007]

Why iPhone over Android?

The answer is simple. Uptake on wifi enabled flights are driven by 2 key things: 1. The length of the flight >3 hours 4-7x the number of activations vs. lengths of flights < 3 hours.
2. The airline. Virgin has a "hipper" demographic than say - Delta. (Delta also flies a lot of flights < 3 hours. So even when Delta flies 4x the number of wifi enabled flights - Virgin actually sells more activations. People that fly Virgin also have a larger % of iPhones than Androids.

So what do these two things have to do with iPhone vs. Android? The obvious choice: There are more iPhones in corporate America than Androids. Business flyers expense the activation fee or have a subscription (if they fly a lot). But wait you say - if this is true then Blackberry would be leading the pack. Ever try to use the internet on a Blackberry? On a plane flying at 550 mph? 'nuff said.

So it isn't that iPhone usage is higher than Android - it's just that people that buy wifi on flights - tend to be iPhone users. Or - another thought - iPhone users are use to paying for their apps - so iPhones users just spend more money than Android users.

TW

i don´t buy this "hipper demographic" theory.

 

[tgildred]

Macs* not Mac's.

Why do people put apostrophes in words to make them plural?

Probably the same reason they might use unnecessary commas in the second paragraph.

 

[marksman]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_4 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8K2 Safari/6533.18.5)

If plane tickets were free you'd see Android ruling the skies.

Oh no you didn't!

Heh, it's so funny how we get story after story about Android's dominance when it comes to activation or total sales or sheer number of devices. But when it comes to usage, it's iOS that rules the world. What is it with these millions of Android users who don't use their devices to go online? Are they just asking for a "smart" phone, handed an Android, and thereafter only use the phone function with, maybe, the address book app?

I think a big part of it is many people get android devices as phones not smartphones. With 2 for 1 deals and total subsidies people who are not inclined to use a smartphone end up with one anyways because of the price.

iPhones are sold as computers and most android devices are sold as cellphones.

 

[sentinelsx]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Android users are too busy customizing their 4.3 inch screen devices to look pretty to stare at instead of actually using the smartphone functions and that big screen. Also if they start using it the phone will probably die long before the flight will end

 

[epiciphonehack]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Why iPhone over Android?

The answer is simple. Uptake on wifi enabled flights are driven by 2 key things: 1. The length of the flight >3 hours 4-7x the number of activations vs. lengths of flights < 3 hours.
2. The airline. Virgin has a "hipper" demographic than say - Delta. (Delta also flies a lot of flights < 3 hours. So even when Delta flies 4x the number of wifi enabled flights - Virgin actually sells more activations. People that fly Virgin also have a larger % of iPhones than Androids.

So what do these two things have to do with iPhone vs. Android? The obvious choice: There are more iPhones in corporate America than Androids. Business flyers expense the activation fee or have a subscription (if they fly a lot). But wait you say - if this is true then Blackberry would be leading the pack. Ever try to use the internet on a Blackberry? On a plane flying at 550 mph? 'nuff said.

So it isn't that iPhone usage is higher than Android - it's just that people that buy wifi on flights - tend to be iPhone users. Or - another thought - iPhone users are use to paying for their apps - so iPhones users just spend more money than Android users.

TW

Book a flight based on how hip the airline is?

Who wouldn't? I love a hot flight attendant!

 

[baryon]

How the hell would they allow you to use a phone on a plane? With WiFi enabled?