According to the latest report from AdMob, 42% of all requests from iPhones to Admob’s partners worldwide are coming in over WiFi instead of through the networks of mobile operators. This puts the iPhone in a league of its own, given that on average, AdMob is only seeing about 10-20% of all requests from Wifi capable phones actually coming in from WiFi networks. From T-Mobile’s Android phone, for example, only about 10% of all requests were made on WiFi.
The iPod Touch and the PlayStation Portable come in at number two (28%) and three (13.1%) with respect to WiFi usage in the US. Only a few Blackberry devices are WiFi capable, but even from those that are, like the Pearl and Curve, only 1% of the requests were on WiFi.
The iPhone is Apple’s Netbook
Steve Jobs once said that the iPhone is Apple’s netbook, and this usage data does lend some credence to this. Most of these WiFi requests probably come from people using the iPhone on their couch at home or in a coffee shop, and often, these users might be quickly checking their email or the weather from their phone instead of booting up their netbooks or laptops.
