NPD's Connected Intelligence monitors 1,200 handsets using the firm's SmartMeter software, which phone owners install in return for an "incentive". Fierce Wireless keeps track of 200 Apple iPhone units, up from 100 in September. Merging the figures from both tracking operations, we can come up with an average amount of data (in GB) that Android and iOS customers use on each of the four major U.S. mobile operators.
The data show that the average Android packin' Verizon customer has sharply curtailed the use of data on his/her phone since April, the earliest that the data is available. During the 7 months that data use has been tracked by NPD, the average amount of data used by Verizon's Android customers has dropped nearly in half from .97GB a month to .50GB. Some of this decline could be due to the end of unlimited data for new customers and for those upgrading to a 4G phone at Verizon.
How the data looks graphically
Not surprisingly, thanks to its unlimited data plan, T-Mobile's customers consume the most data on average among Android users on the top four carriers, 1.23GB. The all-you-can-eat data plan launched early in September and since then the average amount of data consumed on an Android device has risen from August's 1.02GB to October's 1.23GB. What might be a surprise is the unexplained drop in data usage for Sprint's Android owners. Despite Sprint's unlimited data plans, the numbers have declined from 1.38GB in May to October's .76GB.
In the two months of data available for Apple iPhone users, three of the four carriers have seen more data consumed by the average iPhone user in October than the month before. That includes those using an unlocked version of the device over T-Mobile. While the carrier doesn't currently offer the Apple iPhone, it is expected to offer the smartphone next year. Only AT&T's customers sporting Apple's iconic handset used less data in October than in September. With an average data usage of 1.98GB for October, Verizon customers consumed the most data over their iPhone, followed by Sprint customers with an average 1.92GB of data used.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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