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Users of both the iPhone and Android platforms are avid application users, but iPhone owners buy more apps. That's one of several conclusions about mobile users in the January 2010 Mobile Metrics Report from AdMob.

The mobile advertising network found that Android and iPhone consumers download approximately the same number of apps, and spend about the same amount of time using them. But about 50 percent of iPhone users buy at least one app per month, while only 21 percent of Android users do.

'Sheer Quantity and Variety'

The app-activity profile in the report could impact third-party developers and marketers, since platforms with the most-active and most-spending users could influence app-making decisions.

Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said one of the reasons behind the higher purchases by the average iPhone user could simply be "the sheer quantity and variety of applications" offered in Apple's App Store.

"Developers have had more than a year to develop for the iPhone," he said. In particular, he said, entertainment-based apps have gravitated first to the iPhone.

But Greengart noted that the "tremendous variety and quality" of the apps extend beyond entertainment.

He said that, while in Barcelona recently for the Mobile World Congress, he was able to find and download an app to help him with the Barcelona Metro. "In fact," he added, "I had several to choose from."

iPod Users Younger

The survey also looked at users of Palm's webOS devices. It found that they are also app-active, although they downloaded fewer free and paid apps.

Owners of Apple's iPod touch were the heaviest app users, downloading an average of a dozen apps monthly. This is 37 percent more than either iPhone or Android users, who download only about nine per month. Users of webOS had an average of about six.

iPod touch users also spent the most...

Salesforce.com on Wednesday posted a 48 percent jump in fiscal fourth-quarter profit, on strong sales growth for its online business software applications.

For the three months ended Jan. 31, Salesforce.com said profit jumped to $20.4 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with $13.8 million, or 11 cents per share, in last year's fourth quarter.

Revenue shot up 22 percent to $354 million, from $289.6 million a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected profit of 15 cents per share, on revenue of $342.3 million.

Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff said the company is benefiting from the move to cloud computing.

Cloud computing lets companies collaborate online and store data on outside servers, lowering the cost of maintaining their own computer systems.

For the fiscal year, the company earned $80.7 million, or 63 cents per share, on revenue of $1.31 billion. That compares with profit of $43.4 million, or 35 cents per share, on revenue of $1.08 billion last year.

The company said it added more than 17,000 new customers during the fiscal year, to about 72,500.

For the fiscal first quarter, the company expects earnings between 12 and 13 cents per share, on revenue between $365 million and $367 million.

Analysts call for profit of 18 cents per share, on revenue of $354.7 million. The earnings per share numbers, however, may not be comparable because of unusual items.

For the full fiscal year, Salesforce.com forecast earnings between 58 cents and 60 cents per share. It raised its revenue guidance to growth between 16 percent and 17 percent, from 15 to 16 percent. That implies a revenue forecast between $1.51 billion and $1.53 billion.

Wall Street expects profit of 82 cents per share on revenue of $1.51 billion for the fiscal year.

Salesforce.com shares wobbled in aftermarket electronic...

The reduced revenue guidance for Palm's current business year, announced Thursday, is suggesting to industry observers that the company will either have to make major alterations to its business plan or find a buyer. The slower-than-expected consumer adoption of the company's products -- which pushed Palm's annual projections well below its earlier forecast of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion -- was no big surprise to industry observers.

"Having an excellent product is not the guaranteed formula for attaining marketplace success," noted IDC Research Manager Francisco Jeronimo. "Palm has an excellent platform, the webOS, but the company's lack of a wider portfolio and the strong competition from Apple and Research In Motion has been impacting the business."

The smartphone maker needs to invest and invigorate its brand, Jeronimo observed. "The question is whether or not Palm has the money to do this," he said.

Losing The Value Proposition

Palm's webOS is "very gesture-centric" compared to rival offerings and thus may not appeal to the full range of smartphone buyers, noted Roberta Cozza, a principal analyst at Gartner Research. Moreover, other analysts pointed out that Palm has failed to educate resellers about the benefits that webOS devices offer consumers.

"Every time I go to a store in the U.K. and ask about the Palm Pre and what I can do with the device, salespeople struggle to explain," Jeronimo said. "A minute later, they are asking me" whether (I) have considered "the iPhone, or a Blackberry."

The Palm Pre's hardware, user interface, form factor, services and pricing offer nothing superior to what stronger smartphone brands such as Apple and RIM already offer, Jeronimo noted. However, if Palm's technology was backed by a well-known brand with global distribution channels, it would doubtlessly be doing far better, other analysts say.

"They need scale," and an "acquisition is the...