• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, May 8, 2017

Brands are spending more on iOS, while performance marketers are becoming more efficient with their spending on Android, new research from Fiksu suggests.

“Brands are flocking to iOS under the assumption that their target demographics are more likely Apple users,” Tom Cummings, VP of new market development at the mobile marketing firm, notes in a new report.

“This is a great starting place,” Cummings continued. “The iOS ecosystem is less fragmented from a device perspective … but we expect that it won’t be long until brand markets begin investing more into the Android audiences.”

For now, however, mobile indexes show marketers’ preference for iOS despite opportunity on Android, according to Fiksu’s findings.

This month’s indexes show that marketers are driving user purchases at the lowest cost seen this year, with cost per purchaser (CPP) dropping over 20% both Android and iOS.

At the same time, increased competition has led to a corresponding increase in cost to buy media (CPM), especially on iOS, per Fiksu.

Month-over-month, CPM rose 46% on iOS at $5.90, while it decreased 21% to its lowest cost this year at $2.04 on Android.

Year-over-year, CPP decreased by 33% on iOS and 60 percent on Android, while CPM increased by 47% on iOS and one percent on Android.