I think it's more the marketshare of who will pay for apps/subscriptions, which is often quoted as tilted towards iOS users. I'm not sure how true that is, though it make some sense given how many apps cost money on iOS vs Android and that iOS devices are on average more expensive.

I'm not sure if that's true anymore. Last year I switched to Android and paid for some high quality apps, spending more than I have probably ever on Apple. I've noticed that Android free apps are usually more restrictive and pester the user to upgrade more than they do on iOS - I assume Apple ban this, but these dark patterns must work otherwise why would a company tarnish their image with them?

If you look at Android users as a whole, percentage wise of course they will pay less because they are a lot more popular in less well off countries. On the other hand Google's carrier billing support is a lot more extensive than Apple's, so actually being able to pay is less friction.

During the past year I’ve worked with 2 large Fortune 500 companies (they are everywhere globally and everyone knows them) whose main business is in consumer products and services.

Amount of paying mobile users for both companies is clearly dominated by the iOS. About 1:5-1:10 ratio.

is that globally or in the markets like US, i assume it a lot closer in markets that have more hi end devices and disposable income.

but it is sure that apple customers are more used to pay for applications. that's something that i noticed like 8 years when i switched from windows to osx/macbook. while on windows you could find free basic utility software like rippers converters and so on, on macbook they usually where paid applications.

I don't have any recent numbers, but high(er) end clients generally go iOS first due to their own market expectations and distribution.

Depends on your market. Instagram basically gained meaningful traction for years despite completely ignoring android.

I wonder if that would play out the same now. That was a long time ago.