Who's Winning The Android Tablet Race?

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Kindle Leads Android Tablet Market Share (Localytics via Digital Trends)
Localytics, a mobile analytics firm, has released a report on the current global market share of Android tablet, and it spells good news for Amazon. According to the report, Amazon’s Kindle brand holds an impressive 33 percent of the U.S. Android tablet market, followed far behind by the Barnes & Noble Nook, Samsung’s Galaxy series, Google’s Nexus 7 and other devices.

Distantly behind Amazon is the Nook with 10 percent, the Samsung Galaxy series with 9 percent and Google’s Nexus 7 with 8 percent. In contrast to the others, Google’s Nexus 7 is just one device that has been around a mere six months. If this kind of growth continues for Google, it will challenge Amazon in the near future. Note: These numbers do not include other, non-Android tablet devices like the iPad, Surface or Playbook. Read >>

Global Smartphone OS Market Run By Two Companies (Strategy Analytics)
Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android combined to take over 92 percent of the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a report from Strategy Analytics.

Strategy Analytics

Android secured 70.1 percent of the fourth quarter 2012 global smartphone market, while Apple’s iPhones accounted for 22 percent, leaving a mere 7.9 percent to competing platforms (poor Microsoft). In terms of overall shipments, global smartphones grew 38 percent annually from 157.0 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 217.0 million in the fourth quarter last year. The full report can be found here. Read >>

Marissa Mayer Dives Into Mobile In Her Yahoo Turnaround Plan (Business Insider)
Yahoo reported its fourth-quarter earnings Monday and they beat expectations for earnings and revenues. Beyond the GAAP figures, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer also laid out a more precise explanation for how she plans to turn Yahoo around in the long term. She says there is big opportunity in mobile, and they are working on making it happen. Yahoo has about 200 million monthly uniques on mobile already, so it's a start. Read >>

Mobile Ads Just Won’t Cut It Anymore (VentureBeat)
It’s all about the chase in advertising: tracking down the latest trends, channels, and platforms to distribute your message. Most marketers and brand managers have probably heard the phrase “lead with mobile.” But what does it really mean? Should brands only focus on mobile advertising? Should all your media efforts should be derived from the mobile experience? It’s easy to get this wrong. At first you might think mobile advertising makes sense because the ad will be where the many connected consumers are. But this isn’t right. Who really watches a video mobile ad all the way through and then goes to the brand’s Facebook page to learn more? The answer, rather, is “mobile enablement” or looking for ways to add mobile components to more traditional ads. Read >>

Effective Ways To Optimize Mobile Advertising (Business Gross)
More than half of Internet users now browse the Web on the move, using mobile devices like smart phones and tablets. For smart business owners, it’s time to take their advertising campaigns to the mobile platform. Here are five effective ways to optimize mobile advertising for your business, whether small or big:

1. Stay local and be specific
2. Make people find you easily
3. Design for the mobile Web
4. Advertise within apps
5. Stay current with the latest developments

Mobile advertising can really grow your business and increase your income. But how well it will work for you depends on how well you run your campaign. Read >>

iPhone Market Share Predicted To Peak This Year (ABI Research via BGR)
According to ABI Research, "It is clear that the iPhone’s hyper-growth has ended ...Apple’s market share will peak in 2013 at 22 percent," ABI analyst Michael Morgan said. "Unless Apple is willing to trade iPhone margins for low-cost iPhone shipments, Apple’s handset market share will become dependent on customer loyalty." ABI’s year-end handset data suggests Samsung shipped 106 million handsets including 60 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, while Apple shipped 47.8 million iPhones. Nokia shipped 86.3 million handsets including 6.6 million smartphones in the fourth quarter. Read >>

Mobile Sites Vs. Apps For Dummies (Social Solutions Collective)
There are two major branches of mobile usage: apps (applications) and the mobile Web (a mobile browser). Unlike mobile websites, apps are not hosted on servers. Apps are self-contained programs that are typically optimized for use on smartphones and tablets. Apps have an edge if you want a deeper, more engaged experience with your users. They are also better for response time. Mobile sites beat apps in terms of access because vastly more people search the Web than an app store. For managing lots of data, apps have an edge in that they typically connect to a database where mobile websites use simpler solutions. Ultimately, apps beat mobile sites in terms of speed, data management, and advanced features. But all that functionality comes with a price tag. Most small businesses will do fine with a mobile version of their site, while larger companies, like a chain of retail stores or a conference, should look into developing an app. Read >>

The Latest Trends In Mobile Marketing (BizCommunity)
Mobile advertising is very different from any other type of advertising, and it requires a specific approach. How can advertisers use mobile ads to get the best results? How to increase the chances of success in mobile advertising? Here are a few tips:

1. Location is the new context
2. Rich media DIY
3. Mobile ad management less time consuming with MRAID
4. Mobile video
5. Mobile tracking

All the tips above are on the rise with users, especially location-based services and mobile video. And now it's possible to target audiences in mobile without using personally identifiable information. Read >>

CHART OF THE DAY: The ASP Of The iPad Nosedives (BI Intelligence)
Apple released earnings last week and, as expected, the average selling price of iPads declined steeply in the fourth quarter, which saw the release of the new iPad Mini.

As we we outline in our report on tablet ownership, mini-tablets and falling prices are going to drive tablet sales growth in the next few years. Look for tablet penetration to jump globally thanks to cheaper tablets across the board. Read >>

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.