More than 60 pct of iPhones updated to iOS 6 in two weeks

It has just been a fortnight since Apple released iOS 6 to a range of devices and the stats are already in as to how many devices are running this latest mobile operating system, according to a survey compiled by Chitika, an independent research firm. Though the statistics are pretty interesting overall, the device that stands out the most is the iPhone, as the firm has summarised that 60 percent of iPhones are running on this latest operating system.

As per the report, the firm states, “Apple’s newest mobile operating system, iOS 6, has shown unprecedented adoption rates by Apple users. Following our study on the early adoption rates of iOS 6, Chitika Insights was interested in seeing how the adoption rate varied between iOS devices.”

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Rolling average

Elaborating the procedure that Chitika used to test the scores, it took a sample of millions of mobile ad impressions coming out of the Chitika Ad network ranging from September 18 to October 1, 2012. It then split the rate of growth of iOS 6 by the type of device such as iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and compared it to the total web usage to show the differences in adoption by device.

Commenting on the scores, Chitika states, “Our data shows that since the release of iOS 6, iPhone users have exhibited the highest rates of adoption, with iPad users close behind and nearing the 50% marker. iPod users are the least likely to have updated to iOS 6, but still post a remarkable 39% adoption rate just 11 days following the operating system’s (OS) release.”

Distribution across iPhone and iPad

It goes on to point out that the high amount of fragmentation where the iPod touch is concerned is because the first and second generation models are not able to be upgraded past iOS 4. Further elaborating on this point, it states, “While the same is true of older iPhones, cellular companies offer discounted upgrades as part of contracts, encouraging turnover within this market.”

In summation, the firm states that Apple does a good job of keeping its customers up to date with the latest operating system in comparison to Google. The website ends by stating that, “Google’s latest data shows only 22% of its users being on its two most recent versions of Android. Apple’s performance in this area is a great selling point for mobile advertisers, as well as website and application developers, who can all confidently optimize their mobile properties to take advantage of the latest iOS capabilities without fear of shutting out a large portion of the user base.”

For those who are not in the know regarding this OS, the biggest announcement by Apple at its event held earlier this month, apart from the iPhone 5, was iOS 6. The new version of the operating system comes packed with many features and is now officially available for download on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Apple has dropped iOS 6 support for the first generation iPad.

iOS 6 can be downloaded directly on to your device through an over-the-air update, or you could let iTunes do your work for you by letting it download the update and install it on your iOS device.