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If Android tablet sales are so far ahead, why are Android tablet use figures so far behind?

You shouldn't blindly rely on statistics just because they are on the internet, these guys have a pretty spotty record and they provide no methodology nor do they seem to be very consistent or believable in terms of their statistics:

For example, last May Chitika breathlessly reported that OS X usage was up 2.58% month over month (from 11.44% to 14.02%), while Windows usage was down 2.99%. There was no reason for the dramatic shift; it just happened. But one month later Windows usage increased dramatically while Mac usage was down significantly. Meanwhile, in the month of July, Chitika reported that half of all Linux users abruptly stopped using their preferred operating system, with Linux share dropping from 2.05% to 1.12%.
http://www.zdnet.com/why-you-should-be-skeptical-of-chitikas-market-share-reports-7000009363/

It's all well and good to post a link to a pretty picture that supports your argument but there needs to be something to back that up.

If Android tablet sales are so far ahead, why are Android tablet use figures so far behind?

Because those are not tablet use figures no matter how much you misrepresent facts to say what you need them to say to satisfy your agenda. They are web browsing statistics from chikitas web ad network in the US & Canada over a 6 day period and even if their ad network in that scope over that short time were to be representative of browsing habits as a whole that is *still* just web browsing usage and not tablet usage.

We already know the Androd tablet "market share" is a fantasy since companies like Samsung provided fake sales info, and there's no reason to think they are not still doing so.

If Android tablet sales are so far ahead, why are Android tablet use figures so far behind?

So everyone clinging to Snow Leopard and below (even though they remain the bulk of Mac OS installs in use [OSX version graph], are left hanging in the wind.

GJ Oracle.

I found some data points at 24 and 48 hours after the initial release of iOS6 and another after a week. First, a broad statement which seems a little like speculation:

"..within the first day, iOS 6 peaked at more than 15 percent of Web traffic to its mobile ad network.."

Then something that seems more like data that isn't going away:

iOS 6 on 25% of iOS Devices 48 Hours After Public Release

And finally:

iOS 6 Adoption At Just Over One Week: 60% For iPhone And 41% For iPad"

Yep, already discredited: http://insights.chitika.com/2012/ios-6-adoption-post-google-maps/

This article from an iOS advertising platform company pretty much confirms that: http://insights.chitika.com/2012/ios-6-adoption-post-google-maps/

Basically, when google maps was released for iOS 6, their data shows that it had no immediate impact on iOS 6 adoption and continued to have no impact for 5 days afterwards. Once the iPhone 5 was released in China, then there was a nice little spike in iOS 6 usage.

Basically, if you look at it week-by-week, it could look like Google Maps caused a spike in iOS 6 adoption, but when you look at it day-by-day it tells a different story.

So... 68.3% of smartphones run some version of Android, while 18.8% run iOS. So Android phones outnumber iPhones at a ratio of 3.6. Cool.

But on the other hand, web traffic from handheld devices (in mainstream sites, not niche sites like Slashdot) stays pretty much stable at around 67% for iOS and 33% Android. So it would seem like iOS users browse 7.2 times as much as Android users (note this includes tablets).

Do iPad owners browse at such a pace as to skew the results by so much?

Note I'm not saying either of the studies is flawed. I'm just pointing out an apparent contradiction that I find rather puzzling.

Most people, your mom, the school cheerleader, a doctor, the car dealer, etc, will NOT have the latest phone OS even if it were a five minute download.

They do on iOS.

You don't get to 60% adoption in a month without LOTS of moms, doctors, cheerleaders, or criminals applying software updates. And it's hard to imagine why they would not when it's as simple as pressing a button when Apple lets you know an update is available.

Make it easy / free for people to upgrade, and they will upgrade!

http://insights.chitika.com/2012/chrome-18-sees-high-adoption-rates-33-of-users-are-running-latest-version-in-under-a-week/

Doesn't deserve the downvotes.

Android is a nightmare for (game) developers. So many wildly varying specs, some missing major features (no FPU, no multi-touch!)

iOS has been a lot nicer, with only 3 screen resolutions to support, and all devices with FPUs, multi-touch, and PowerVR GPUs. But the new iPad is a big change, with it's huge resolution, making universal apps less practical.

True !

There are a few statistics in the wild that explain the situation further.
Chitika Labs iPad stats
Marco.org iOS stats
Chitika Insights Android Stats

Till now, the devs only had to worry about iDevice + iOS-Version. Now, they also have to worry about iDevice-Version + iOS-Version. The market fragmentation argument claimed by Apple as a benefit against Android has just started getting nullified.

As Apple starts penetrating further into price-sensitive and high volume markets like India where there is no concept of contract lock-in, fragmentation may become more prominent. People tend to hold on to "working" devices for longer and device upgrades are not as frequent. There is no operator subsidy to encourage a device upgrade.

So, in summary, yes. Fragmentation "may" hit Apple and it cant be written off as only some Android specific problem now.

Doesn't deserve the downvotes.

Android is a nightmare for (game) developers. So many wildly varying specs, some missing major features (no FPU, no multi-touch!)

iOS has been a lot nicer, with only 3 screen resolutions to support, and all devices with FPUs, multi-touch, and PowerVR GPUs. But the new iPad is a big change, with it's huge resolution, making universal apps less practical.

True !

There are a few statistics in the wild that explain the situation further.
Chitika Labs iPad stats
Marco.org iOS stats
Chitika Insights Android Stats

Till now, the devs only had to worry about iDevice + iOS-Version. Now, they also have to worry about iDevice-Version + iOS-Version. The market fragmentation argument claimed by Apple as a benefit against Android has just started getting nullified.

As Apple starts penetrating further into price-sensitive and high volume markets like India where there is no concept of contract lock-in, fragmentation may become more prominent. People tend to hold on to "working" devices for longer and device upgrades are not as frequent. There is no operator subsidy to encourage a device upgrade.

So, in summary, yes. Fragmentation "may" hit Apple and it cant be written off as only some Android specific problem now.

Can't argue with the earnings, they are doing well financially. But those dollars are coming from a single product, 97% of its revenue is from advertising. Think about it: 97% from a single source, one that's sensitive to economic slowdowns too.

Also about those 40 million users for Google+ mentioned in the article, a counterpoint :

"The data shows that, on the day of its public debut, Google+ traffic skyrocketed to peak levels. But, soon after, traffic fell by over 60% as it returned to its normal, underwhelming state. It would appear that although high levels of publicity were able to draw new traffic to Google+, few of them saw reason to stay."

In what way does the Android operating system force developers to use Google's ad network for a free but ad-supported program and not Chitika's?

And my goodness there are a lot of Windows PC customers, and neither Google nor Apple have that advantage.

Actually Apple have a good market penetration among people who actually buy smartphones like college students and people with the disposable income to actually buy these things. That's confirmed by studies like this : "74 percent of iPad owners surveyed currently own a Mac, while just 26 percent own a PC." and "iPhone users twice as likely to own a mac"

Most of the PC's out there are corporate desktops or owned by people who aren't interested in the latest in computing, these are not potential smartphone customers.

Barbie, you've got some good insight and usually I agree with you. But not today.

I'm getting old. I really like using RDP and Citrix on my iPod Touch. Really, I do. And I'd like to read books and watch movies on it too. But the screen is too small for my elderly eyes even with the best glasses I can get. I need something... bigger. Bigger pockets I can get. Good suits will tailor any pocket you want, or in informal environments you can go with cargo pockets or a Safari vest. I've seen iPad pocket designed clothing already, so it's out there if you look. Better eyes are currently not available at retail. The phone form factor is not big enough to share.

The tablet market is most definitely not going to nosedive. It has reached escape velocity. Apple has sold 1.3 million iPads. That would be a large multiplier of all the other tablet solutions, ever - and that's millions of people who have barely started showing off their neat gear to other people who are going to buy them. We haven't had time yet for a commercial purchase order to clear, so there have been no enterprise deployments yet and there definitely will be. IT geeks love this thing because it's optimal for always-on acess to their servers. They can travel now. Sales pros? They'll fall in love with it too because all the docs, stats and vendor collateral fit on the local storage so if there are questions at the table they don't have to waffle - they can provide proof from the vendor, case studies and slideshows. Once the medical field gets hold of this that's another million units at least, for example. And then there's schools. Schools like Apple and this product is right up their alley. Those numbers are ridiculous, so I won't state them here but they're huge. Somehow Apple has managed to be first mover in a ten year old market (tablet PC) - that's brilliant.

You have no idea. I don't even like Apple platforms because they're too restrictive for me; they have too much DRM. I like to own my equipment utterly rather than be dependant upon the continued benevolence of some vendor. I would prefer for myself an Android slate on a Tegra 2 or better processor and some good video chipset. But I know hot when I see it and this is it.

I looked in on the Apple store in Palo Alto today, and it wasn't that busy. They had plenty of iPads on display. I think everybody who wanted one early already has one.

The first spyware for the iPad has already been deployed: "Our engineering team has devised a workaround to Safari on the iPad's rejection of any and all 3rd-party cookies."