International media and marketing research firm Arbitron analyzed the behavior of 12,000 US Android, iPhone and BlackBerry users, discovering that iPhone users were 10 percentage points more likely than Android users to be gamers.
Specifically, the study found that roughly 86% of iPhone users played games vs. 76% of Android users. iPhone users who played games averaged an impressive 743.1 minutes per month, across an average of 151.5 monthly gaming sessions. Android gamers spent an average of 484 minutes per month playing, and averaged 94.6 monthly sessions. Arbitron concluded that the iPhone successfully converts a larger slice of its users into gamers, and then convinces them to play more and more often.
The Arbitron report also pointed out that smartphone users across all major platforms averaged 594.1 minutes per month gaming—significantly more time than they spent with any other phone function (eg – texting/MMS and browsing at 470 minutes, social networking or making phone calls.)
China-based research firm Umeng meanwhile estimates that Chinese mobile gamers access mobile gaming apps 1.2X more often than their global peers, and end up playing some 1.4X longer per session.