Study: Europeans Quickest To Adopt iOS 6, Overall Updates Growth Continues

We’ve got some new and interesting numbers to share about iOS 6 adoption three weeks after launch, from a couple of different sources, both of which show users continue to update to the new mobile OS from Apple. There are also some interesting differences depending on region, with some countries lagging far behind the U.S. in terms of adoption and some surging far ahead.

First, from Chitika, the news that iOS 6 adoption has climbed to just a hair shy of 68 percent on iPhone devices, based on a snapshot taken October 10 of the traffic coming through millions of ad impressions on Chitika’s network. The iPad is at 51 percent running iOS 6, passing the tipping point of more than half of all users, and the iPod rose to just over 42 percent. Chitika thinks that part of the reason behind the differences might be the overabundance of older devices still in use in the iPod segment that can’t upgrade to iOS 6, whereas all but first-generation iPads are currently compatible, and iPhones enjoy a quicker turnover cycle with consumers thanks to carrier upgrade incentives. Overall, iOS 6 adoption sits at 58.88 percent, according to Chitika’s data.

The numbers from Chartboost paint a slightly different picture. Overall, they see iOS 6 adoption sitting at just under 50 percent. That’s still an improvement from when it showed growth nearly stalling last week, but considerably under Chitika’s picture. But both continue to show an upwards trend.

In addition to looking at overall OS version adoption, Chartboost also broke down country-by-country uptake, and that showed some interesting variances depending on where users are in the world. Top iOS 6-adopting nations include Italy (65 percent), Germany (62.3 percent), the Netherlands (60.6 percent) and the UK (57.6 percent). On the other end of the spectrum, China is among the lowest adopting countries, with just 24.5 percent on iOS 6. You can see a number of other nations in the chart below.

One more chart from Chitika below shows how various countries stack up relative to the U.S. The geographical iOS 6 adoption breakdown provides an interesting look at where users are more eager to be on the latest version, but other factors like device distribution and access to reliable Wi-Fi connections could be at play.