Users of iTunes grew by 47.5% over the past year, while the other streaming media players had single-digit growth. At current growth rates iTunes users will exceed RealPlayer users by the second quarter of 2007 (see Figure 1). European broadband growth has decreased in recent months. US broadband growth slowed a bit in January, growing by 0.62% percentage points to 79.1% among active Internet users. Figure 1: Streaming Media Player Growth Over the past year, the number of unique users of Apple's iTunes player grew by 47.5%. Over the same time period, RealPlayer users grew by 9.1%, QuickTime by 8.7%, and Windows Media Player grew by 2.0% according to data provided by Nielsen//NetRatings (see Table 1). At current growth rates, iTunes should pass RealPlayer in unique users by the second quarter of 2007. Apple should be whistling a happy tune this year. While iTunes continues to show strong double-digit growth rates, Windows Media Player growth appeared to slow over the past year. Overall, broadband take-up decreased across Europe from 23% to 14% growth in the half year period before September 2006, according to ECTA. ECTA attributes the slower growth in broadband uptake to incumbent telecommunication monopolies in key countries. However, there were some countries that exhibited higher growth rates such as Germany (15%), Ireland (30%) and Greece (63%). The UK passed Belgium (2.9% growth) to become fifth among European countries in broadband penetration (see Figure 2). Denmark leads all European countries surveyed with a 30.3% broadband penetration rate, followed by the Netherlands at 29.8%, Finland at 26%, Sweden at 24.4%, and the UK at 20.2% broadband penetration per capita, according to data provided by ECTA. The Netherlands should pass Denmark in broadband penetration this year, due to their higher growth rate of 11.1% versus Denmark's 3.6%. The Office of National Statistics reported that 79.2% of all connections to the Internet in the UK are via broadband, with most people connecting at 2Mb/sec or less. Figure 2: Evolution of Broadband Penetration Rates for European Countries 2003 - 2006 US broadband penetration among active Internet users grew to 79.07% in January 2007. Narrowband users connecting at 56Kbps or less now comprise 20.93% of active Internet users, down 0.62 percentage points from 21.55% in December 2006 (see Figure 3). Figure 3: Web Connection Speed Trends - Home Users (US) In January 2007, broadband penetration in US homes grew 0.62 percentage points to 79.03%, up from 78.45% in December. This increase of 0.62 points is below the average increase in broadband of 0.9 points per month over the last six months (see Figure 4). At current growth rates US broadband penetration should break 80% among active Internet users by March 2007. Figure 4. Broadband Adoption Growth Trend - Home Users (US) As of January 2007, 93.3% of US workers were on broadband, up 1.01 percentage points from the 92.29% share in December. At work 6.7% connect at 56Kbps or less (see Figure 5). Figure 5: Web Connection Speed Trends - Work Users (US)
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings and Website Optimization
iTunes Player Usage Grows 47.5% in 2006
Source: Nielsen//NetRatingsTable 1: Streaming Media Player Growth Comparison (Unique Audience [000])
Player
Nov-05 Jan-06 Nov-06 Jan-07 YOY Apple QuickTime 11,771 12,817 12,670 13,934 8.7% iTunes 13,922 18,568 23,460 27,396 47.5% RealPlayer 26,262 28,687 30,566 31,309 9.1% Windows Media Player 68,758 71,112 71,705 72,510 2.0% European Broadband Growth Slows
Source: ECTA, used with permission.Home Connectivity in the US
Web Connection Speed Trends - Home Users (US)
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings
Broadband Growth Trends in the US
Broadband Adoption Growth Trend - Home Users (US)
Extrapolated from Nielsen//NetRatings data
Work Connectivity
Web Connection Speed Trends - Work Users (US)
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings
Further Reading
By website optimization on 26 Feb 2007 AM
Surely Quicktime must also have 27 million users as Quicktime is required for iTunes to work??
By: tommy at February 28, 2007 9:20 AM
For the record, iTunes uses QuickTime - it does not stand on its own. In other words, iTunes/Quicktime passed RealPlayer around the change of the year from 2005 to 2006. So, adding the numbers for iTunes and QuickTime together, you get the following: the situation is currently Realplayer 31 million unique users, iTunes/QuickTime 41 million, and Windows Media Player 72 million, with iTunes/Quicktime gaining ground quickly on the faltering WMP. Much more drastic than this article suggests.
By: Dan Shockley at March 1, 2007 12:58 AM
Tommy and Dan,
I talked to my source at Nielsen//NetRatings about your queries re QuickTime and iTunes. What they measure is the number of unique users for the entire month for each application, not number of people that have installed it. The figures are for the U.S., combined home and work data only, PC users only. School computers are not included.
"The figures estimate the number of unique people that used iTunes during the given time period (month) and are not an estimate of the number of people who may have the application installed on their computer."
By: website optimization at March 1, 2007 6:51 PM
All,
There have been some stories about this report saying that iTunes popularity is surging in Europe, that is not what this report is about. This report shows that iTunes popularity grew by 47.5% over the past year in the United States, not in Europe. Perhaps the reporter conflated the two trends, but I wanted to set the record straight.
iTunes may be growing like gangbusters in Europe, but that is not what we are reporting here. European broadband growth is slowing overall lately.
- Andy
By: website optimization at March 4, 2007 11:57 AM
Increased speeds by 30-90% with our analysis and optimization services.
Increase conversions with adaptive multivariate testing to squeeze more leads out of your exiating traffic. Quickly boost your ROI.
Improve your site's look, usability and accessibility for a more credible and successful website.
