Android dethrones iPhone, BlackBerry
One in three smartphones sold in the United States runs on Google's Android software.
The US is easily the most developed market for Android phones. Motorola, Sony-Ericsson, Samsung, LG, HTC and others have had handsets on the market for more than a year - although only in force for around nine months.
As such, it probably provides a pointer for how Android phones will fare in other countries.
Google will hope so.
Last month, a shock survey from NPD showed Android phones outselling iPhone the smart-phone segment.
Although NPD is a respected market tracker, many commentators were a little dubious.
Put a second NPD survey, released today, shows Android phones blowing away all comers for the second quarter - staying ahead of iPhone and dethroning RIM’s BlackBerry - the reigning smartphone champ since the fourth quarter of 2007.
Specifically NPD's latest wireless market research reveals that Android accounted for 33% of all smartphones purchased in the second quarter, ahead of BlackBerry maker RIM (28%) and Apple (22%).
More, NPD’s findings are now being backed up by other surveys.
A Canalys report released earlier this week said that for the second quarter sales of phones based on Google's Android software were up nearly 900% from a year ago, claiming 34% of the market in the United States.
Canalys put RIM on 32%, Apple on 21.7%.
A year ago, RIM.’s share of the US market was 45%.
A third study, released Monday by Nielsen, found similar trends, with a declining BlackBerry nabbing 33% of new sign-ups over the past six months; Android-based phones 27% and iPhone 23%.
iPhone has the glam appeal and the cult following, but as in New Zealand, it's expensive, has a single official carrier (that is, who can offer a handset subsidy). Androids, by contrast, appear at all price-points, and are being pushed by every phone company.
Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees have all been jumping on the Android bandwagon over the past couple of months, releasing multiple models.
The most promising Android in Telecom's line-up, the Motorola Milestone, finally made an appearance yesterday. Read more about it here.
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Comments and questions9
Why compare the iphone to Android? Compare the iphone to the Droid or to any specific phone NOT to an OS (operating system) like Android. It's not a fair comparison. It's not a fair comparison.
[Some Androids - noticeably Sony-Ericsson's with its own multimedia software overlaid - depart from the norm. And there are different takes on hardware of course; touchscreen-only or touchscreen plus keyboard.
But overall, the Android interface - if the latest firmware has been installed, free - is a familiar constant.
I'm looking at both individual Android phones, and Androids as a class - e.g. whether the Android Marketplace can match or deliver alternatives to my favourite AppStore apps (so far no) - CK]
this is a fair comparison and is industry standard. when computer market shares are discussed it is most often categorized by operating system -- Microsoft, mac, or Linux. or AMD and Intel under the hood.
I agree with anonymous - Apple iphones are a category as are android phones.
I think its an unalienable truth that open and unconstrained architectures will always ultimately win.
By going exclusive with specific carriers on a per country basis, Apple are playing into Googles hands by forcing other non iphone carrying telcos to agressively market the only real iPhone alternative available to date.
Face it folks, Apple are the new Microsoft and a growing number of people are begining to cotton on to this.
Anyone know the market share or unit sales of Android phones in NZ? I have one but I've never seen another one and it feels pretty lonely sometimes ....
It's like Apple vs Windows. A system which is endorsed by different phone manufacfurers will definitely succeed over a closed sytem.
So Android is in the lead? Cool. But anyone notice that RIM and iPhone have not lost sales to Android? This is the Smartphone market in the US growing in size OVERALL, at the expense of feature phones.
I don't expect this trend to be repeated in the same way in NZ as we just aren't as rich as the US, nor do we have metropolitan wifi.
If this trend is echoed in Europe which is possible, Nokia is in big trouble. They are in the denial stage Sony Ericsson was in during 2007, just before the bottom fell out of their market and they started a hasty restructure. Watch this space.
Not to worry, by 2 or 3 years from now Android phones, tablet etc. will be anywhere. It's just an early day of Android OS. 3 years form now you'll be Android guru in NZ, who know.... ;-))
I think there is barely basis for comparison, since there are so many companies selling Android phones only one Apple in the market. This is like comparing Windows vs the Mac, which in general is an unfair competition.
The mobile phone market has seen many changes this past few years. At first I thought Nokia was out of the race, with iPhones leading the charge. However, Nokia seems to have bounced back with its Lumia phones. Though Android phones are the most common now, iPhones are still highly popular, and they take up a huge chunk of the market.
Alex - business phone plans
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