Strange Tales Of Christmas

Apple's mobile operating system -- iOS -- is used on the iPhone and the iPad.

The iOS system has a small share of the mobile device market. Only about 13% of mobile devices (phones and tablets) use it.

Google's Android system is the clear and dominant leader with about 80% of worldwide share.

And yet, there are some very strange data coming out of this holiday season's mobile retail sales.

A study released by IBM shows that although Android use is far more widespread than iOS, in the U.S. about 5 times as many Christmas shopping transactions were done on an iOS device than an Android device.

This is in line with data collected during the Thanksgiving season as well, and confirms previous findings that people use their iThings differently than their DroidThings.

Another interesting stat is that the average purchase on an iThing is over twice as large as the average DroidThing purchase.

These are not just little anomalies. These are huge differences that I'm sure have enormous implications for marketers (although what the hell they are, I have no idea.)

One of the underlying differences is probably related to income. The average iThing costs more than twice as much as the average DroidThing.

It may be that while iGeeks are using their devices to buy each other something, Droidoids can only afford to send each other pictures of their naughty bits.

By the way, I've seen your naughty bits and I'd rather you buy me something.