Armenia’s mobile device market has not been properly assessed. It’s unclear how many people in Armenia access the internet with a tablet, a smartphone, or a basic phone that is able to connect to the internet. 

There are no accurate, publicly accessible data, though an approximate picture of the mobile market in Armenia can be obtained from other sources.

In July 2012, a representative of Mail.Ru Group announced that more than 787,000 users in Armenia visit the Russian social networking site Odnoklassniki, 272,000 of these accessing the site from a mobile phone; that is, about one-third of visitors. 

Facebook provides more detailed data. According to data accessed in mid-May of this year, 470,000 users from Armenia access Facebook per month. Of these, 193,040 — about 41% — use mobile devices to do so.

• 131,120  access the site through so-called “feature” phones, which are not themselves smartphones but are able to connect to the Internet
• 67,680 access the site via smartphones and tablets

The following is a breakdown of smartphone and tablet use according to operating system:

iOS: 58,320 smartphones and tablet users use this operating system. Of these, 17,440 are iPads (of which iPad is used by 960; iPad 2 – 9,180; iPad 3 – 8,080).  

iPhone: 29,100 users ( iPhone 4 – 9,980 users; iPhone 4S – 11,820; iPhone 5 – 9,600). In Armenia, users also access Facebook through the iPod (840 users).

Android: 50,340 users. According to the make: Samsung – 29,620; HTC – 6,720; Sony – 3,900;  LG – 660; Motorola – 240.

Windows: 3,060 users

RIM/Blackberry: 1,240 users

Take into consideration that the same user might access the Internet using more than one device, and so the overall number of users might be different than expected.

Statcounter collects aggregate data from across its network of sites. The statistics aren’t that accurate as visits to social networking sites are omitted. On the other hand, users are considered from a broader spectrum.

Top 10 mobile vendors in Armenia from April 2012 to April 2013
 

Top 8 mobile operating systems in Armenia from April 2012 to April 2013

We can generalize and say that the number of mobile device users in Armenia is rapidly growing, in some cases approaching nearly half of all (Internet) users. 

On the other hand, smartphones don’t have a predominant role in the market; however, they are gradually pushing older phones out of the market. While iOS and Android operating systems continue to share the smartphone market.

Samvel Martirosyan

The views expressed in the column are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Media.am.