iPod Touch Is Apple’s Stealth Weapon for Mobile Growth

Steve Jobs once referred to the iPod Touch as “training wheels for the iPhone,” but it’s no novelty to Apple. An analytics firm estimates Apple has shipped about 24 million units of the iPod Touch, which represents about 40 percent of the devices running the iPhone operating system.

Mobile analytics firm Flurry claims it made the estimate based on a sample of 3,000 applications, 45 million consumers and four platforms. Apple provided a figure of 58 million devices running the iPhone OS, and of that total, Flurry believes 24 million are iPod Touch devices.

Flurry speculates that Apple’s iPod Touch is crucial for the company to retain and expand its market share in the mobile OS space.

“While it is clear that the iPhone has significant short-term revenue value for Apple, Flurry believes that the iPod Touch holds more long-term strategic value for Steve Jobs and team,” Flurry wrote in a blog post. “As all industry eyes look to the iPhone, the iPod Touch is quietly building a loyal base among the next generation of iPhone users, positioning Apple to corner the smartphone market not only today, but also tomorrow.”

That’s a believable number, because the iPod Touch caters to a broad market segment including gamers, teenagers (who presumably can’t afford the iPhone’s ~$100 monthly bill), Verizon customers avoiding AT&T and more.

The numbers also signify healthy growth for Apple’s iPhone platform. In September, Apple claimed it had shipped 40 million units of the iPhone and iPod Touch worldwide. In just three months, that number has increased 18 million — about 30 percent.



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