AdMob has released a very interesting study about how iPhone and Android users behave towards mobile applications. They found that the Apple Apps Store gets twice as many paid app downloads per user as the Android Market, and that 90% of the ‘discovery’ activity takes place on the mobile, not on the internet.

Download the full study.

AdMob surveyed 1,000 people, split between iPhone, Android, and iPod Touch users. Each person took a short survey on their mobile, with no incentive offered.

Some of the other more interesting finding from the study include:

• iPhone and Android users are heavily involved with mobile apps, spending on average 80 to 90 minutes per day on them. iPod Touch users are even more heavily involved, spending on average 2 hours per day.
• iPhone and Android owners download about 8 free apps per month, while iPod Touch owners download twice that many, over 16 apps per month.
• However, when it comes to paid apps, iPhone and iPod Touch users are very similar, with 2 paid apps per month, whereras Android users only download 1 paid app per month.

Another big focus of the study was discoverability, or how do users actually find the apps they download. It turns out that the top three ways to find apps are 1) to browse through the “Top Apps” listings in the stores, 2) do a search for a specific type of app, and 3) word of mouth from friends.

The study also estimates the total revenue from the Android Market to be about $5million during August 2009, and about $200 for the Apple Apps Store during the same period.