With its cryptic “the playground is open” tagline, the recently planned [and cancelled, #thankyouSandy] Google Android event had many pundits speculating on what would be introduced. So, we thought we’d once again ask the real experts – consumers – for their take on the Android platform versus the Apple iOS. After all, the nearly 9,000 consumers BIGinsight talks to each month correctly gauged the room temperature reception of September’s iPhone 5 announcement from Apple.
As it turns out, a look at the latest results from our “Hot or Not” feature reveals that the Google Android OS may be becoming quite the pressure cooker for Apple’s iOS. While the majority of adults deemed both the Google Android platform and Apple iOS as pretty popular in October, Android maintained a slight lead on the pairing with 53.0% voting it “hot” to Apple’s 51.4%.
These insights become really interesting, though, when divvied up by generation. While more than three out of five of the must-have Millennial demographic concurred that both platforms were “hot,” it was Android again (with 64.0%) that held the edge over Apple (61.9%). The operating system disparity was greatest among Gen X-ers, who were 10% more likely to side with Android (58.6%) versus Apple (53.4%). Boomers were on the fence for this debate, while Apple finally found some support among the Silent generation. Nearly half (46.8%) of those born before 1946 judged Apple to be “hot,” four points higher than those who felt the same way about Android (41.4%).
Bottom Line: While both platforms are undoubtedly popular, it seems that the children of our future – Millennials and Gen X-ers – are positioning Google Android as the mobile future, at least for the time being. As I recall, playground popularity contests could be pretty competitive.
This post originally appeared on Forbes.com as a contribution to the Prosper Now blog.
