In fact, according to the mobile analytics firm Flurry, the iPod touch might even be Apple's secret weapon when it comes to long-term results and platform retention. Flurry makes this argument in its November Industry Pulse report.
iPod touch, Training Wheels for the iPhone
A big part of Flurry's assertion is that the userbase using the iPod touch is going to be more inclined to buy an iPhone when the decision to buy a smartphone comes up. Flurry is classifying iPod touch users as young teens. While this might be true, we haven't seen any demographic information regarding the average age of an iPod touch owner.
Flurry's argument about the iPod touch building up brand loyalty, product familiarity and an existing repository of content (in this case, apps) mirrors the same trend that many computer and industry analysts wrote about beginning in 2004. The "iPod halo effect" was the idea that the good experience consumers had with the iPod would make them more likely to become Macintosh customers. Users were introduced to the Apple brand via the iPod, became loyal, and by extension were willing to switch computing platforms.
This halo effect has largely been cited as one of the reasons that the marketshare for Mac OS X is up so much since 2003, when the iPod first started to gain real momentum in the digital device space. Flurry's argument extends this principle to the iPod touch, only instead of moving consumers towards the Mac (although that may still be a side effect), iPod touch users will be more likely to move to the iPhone.
To our knowledge, there haven't been any studies proving or disproving this relationship, but as a theory, it does make sense. Anecdotally, I can say that as a former BlackBerry user, it was only after owning the iPod touch that I was willing to resign myself to lower-quality cellular service in exchange for the iPhone.
iPod touch Users and Social Networking and Social Gaming
In Flurry's latest report, they look at the average number of user sessions on the iPhone, the iPod touch and the Android platform. All three platforms have increased user sessions, but because the market as a whole has expanded, the iPhone's percentage has fallen.
In the social networking and social gaming area, the iPod touch has gained the most ground since June. Take a look at the chart below:
The fact that the iPod touch is growing more than platforms like the Android in areas such as user sessions for social networking and social gaming is interesting, but it might not end up being statistical proof of anything. After all, the reason for the increases could be more wireless hotspots or more use of applications with networked capabilities.
Still, as a gaming platform, the iPod touch offers some significant advantages over its competitors, like the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP. Games tend to be less expensive and the download-to-device ability and potential integration with other social graph services makes the platform a real winner.
What do you think?