My wording was unclear.
Install base = number of devices in the hands of consumers. I use the word 'rival' in the sense that the two platforms are growing at a similar rate, not to suggest that they are directly competing for exactly the same consumers.
The radically different business model of Apple's handheld software market makes comparison almost impossible. The App Store is only 15 months old, and developers, consumers, and even Apple themselves are still figuring out what works and what doesn't. We're only just starting to see tracking of iPhone apps, and numbers are pretty spotty unless there's an official statement.
Soon, the number of downloads wouldn't matter even if that information was available. Apple has just announced that they're going to allow in-app content purchasing within free apps. That means no more game demos. Developers will simply distribute the game for free with a few levels and include a button to buy the rest of the levels within the game. A game could have a million downloads and only a few hundred people who actually paid to play the whole thing.
The only way to compare iPhone/iPod Touch and the DS is going to be to watch the hardware and where the developers go. Nintendo is obviously untouched right now, but I'm not as convinced as other people that Nintendo is untouchable. All entertainment competes, doubly true when it's competing for limited pocket space.
"The worst part about these reviews is they are [subjective]--and their scores often depend on how drunk you got the media at a Street Fighter event." — Mona Hamilton, Capcom Senior VP of Marketing
*Image indefinitely borrowed from BrainBoxLtd without his consent.
