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iPhone, iPod Touch users tops in downloading

Seventy-five percent of iPhone and iPod Touch users report downloading content from the Web, according to NPD. Next to computers, those devices are firmly in the lead.

Jim Dalrymple Special to CNET News
Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to record music using a Macintosh. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. He currently runs The Loop.
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Jim Dalrymple

A new report from market research firm NPD Group crowns iPhone and iPod Touch users the winners when it comes to downloading Web content on a device other than a computer.

 
Apple

According to the report, "Entertainment Trends in America," 16 percent of Americans 13 years and older use devices other than home PCs to download content from the Internet. Three-quarters of iPhone and iPod Touch users are downloading music, video, and applications from the Web. In comparison, NPD said that 19 percent of game console owners and 17 percent of Blu-ray set-top product users downloaded content from the Web.

"It's not surprising that Apple users are ahead of others when it comes to downloading Web-based content, given the breadth of the company's app catalog and the head start iTunes had selling music for the iPod," said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD. "Like other groups of early adopters, consumers downloading entertainment content are mostly younger and male; however, as app stores expand beyond Apple, as connected devices become more commonplace, and as connectivity is simplified we expect to see more activity on other devices and platforms."

Not surprisingly, the most popular item to download among Apple users was free apps, followed by game apps and music. Of course, the most popular content downloaded on a game console was add-ons and the purchase of entire games.

NPD surveyed 10,356 people ages 13 and older in the U.S. for the latest update to its twice-yearly consumer study.