AppNation 2011: On average iOS users have downloaded 48 apps says Nielsen

Breaking out some headlines from Nielsen's latest Mobile Apps Playbook, CEO of Telecom Practice, Jonathan Carson, pointed to the quarterly growth of smartphones in the US as the main driver of the ecosystem.

Smartphones now make up 36 percent of the US phone market, and will likely become a majority sector in the US in late 2011 or early 2012.

"When people get a smartphone, they immediately become app consumer and that’s driving the sector," Carson explained.

The other big thing driving this growth is the dynamic environment in terms of mobile operating systems.

"In less 18 months, Android has jumped from under 5 percent to 37 percent share in the US, and its increase is continuing," Carson said.

RIM has been the big loser, down to 22 percent. Apple is steady at 27 percent market share.

Underlining this is the differences and similarities between users of different OSes; for example 74 percent of app downloaders are on Android or iOS.

Android and iOS users engage in similar activities on their devices, while RIM users focus on messaging rather than app downloads.

On average, iOS users have 48 apps on their devices, and Android users 35 apps, the difference between the two being due to the longer experience of iOS users with their devices.

Interestingly, Nielsen is just starting to get its first numbers on Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 too.

One data point is that users are very happy with their device, especially when it comes to the app store experience, with the platform ranking highest when it comes to the billing experience.