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Android Tops 50%, iOS Hits 30% in U.S. Smartphone Installed User Base

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Research firm comScore today released the results of its latest survey of mobile phone users in the United States, finding that Google's Android and Apple's iOS continue to dominate the smartphone landscape.

The highlight of comScore's report is Android passing 50% of installed smartphone user base for the first time, grabbing 50.1% of the market during the three-month period of December through February. That marks a gain of 3.2 percentage points since the previous three-month period and a gain of 17 percentage points over the past year. But Apple's iPhone has also seen strong performance, gaining 1.5 percentage points over the previous period and 5 percentage point year-over-year to hit 30.2% of the market.

comscore_smartphones_feb12.jpg

Notably, Apple has also moved passed Motorola in overall mobile phone user base in the United States, with Apple's share growing by 2.3 percentage points over the previous three-month period while Motorola's share shrank by 0.9 percentage points. Apple now holds the third highest share of mobile phone user base in the United States, placing behind Samsung and LG.

comscore_mobile_phones_feb12.jpg

comScore's data tracks installed user base rather than new handset sales, making it more reflective of real-world usage but slower to respond to shifting market trends than some other studies. The difference between those two types of studies was highlighted in a Nielsen report from last week which showed very similar number to comScore's data among "all smartphone owners" in the United States. But with the strength of the iPhone 4S launch, Nielsen's numbers showed that Android's 16-point lead over the iPhone was narrowed to 5 points when looking only at those who purchased their devices within the past three months.

Article Link: Android Tops 50%, iOS Hits 30% in U.S. Smartphone Installed User Base
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/04/03/android-tops-50-ios-hits-30-in-u-s-smartphone-installed-user-base/
xionxiox

xionxiox

macrumors regular
Jul 20, 2010
227
0
Hell
I said it before and I'll say it again. 2 iPhones =/= 200 Android phones.

Especially considering the fact that Apple actually makes money selling the phones they make.

I just don't see the comparison sorry :/

Edit: It seems I did forget about the 3GS. A $0.99 3 year old phone that is going to be discontinued by the end of the year...And still sells better than most free Android phones.
 
Last edited:
GFLPraxis

GFLPraxis

macrumors 604
Mar 17, 2004
7,152
460
These are actually pretty fantastic numbers for iOS, considering how much the smartphone base is growing and Android phones are being given away.

iOS and Android probably have a similar userbase at the moment, when you include the iPod Touch/iPad (which, if you are an app developer, you can include as they can buy your app).

And iOS users tend to do more on their device, and spend more money for products.


If I were an app developer, I'd definitely target iOS first (multiplatform if possible) still.
 
R

rsands1

macrumors member
Aug 25, 2010
32
24
Android phones are given away for free like it's going out of style, have 10,000 different phones on the market and are on every carrier known to mankind. Who gives a crap if they have 50% market share. Their ecosystem still sucks, is ridden with spyware apps, get's the crappiest support from developers and gets zero love from Google in regards to actually updating the OS. They could have 99.9% market share for all I care and it wouldn't make any difference to how I feel about those kind of phones. I'm 150,000% satisfied with my iPhone 4, will buy the iPhone 5 and continue to buy each iteration of the iPhone after that. Nobody can compete with Apple :)
 
P

pajamma

macrumors member
Oct 19, 2011
35
10
Pittsburgh, PA
It's hard to overstate how dreadful some LG phones are. I've had two in the last year, both barely useable turd-tech.

I had an iPhone 3G in my pocket with the an LG touchscreen phone... the iPhone killed it - cracked the screen on the smaller device while showing no damage to itself. I think it's a metaphor.
 
faroZ06

faroZ06

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2009
3,387
1
These numbers don't matter much for Apple. What matters is iOS (all devices) vs Android (all devices). It's all about setting the standard, mainstream OS.
 
Taz Mangus

Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
rsands1 said:
Android phones are given away for free like it's going out of style, have 10,000 different phones on the market and are on every carrier known to mankind. Who gives a crap if they have 50% market share. Their ecosystem still sucks, is ridden with spyware apps, get's the crappiest support from developers and gets zero love from Google in regards to actually updating the OS. They could have 99.9% market share for all I care and it wouldn't make any difference to how I feel about those kind of phones. I'm 150,000% satisfied with my iPhone 4, will buy the iPhone 5 and continue to buy each iteration of the iPhone after that. Nobody can compete with Apple :)
Click to expand...

The funny thing is Google actually makes more money from iOS then it does from Android. Aw, the irony of it all.
 
G

gpat

macrumors 68000
Mar 1, 2011
1,870
5,047
Italy
I'm surprised that LG has a top spot. Their Android phones suck bull balls, Samsung runs circles around them. Maybe their dumbphones are OK though.
 
the8thark

the8thark

macrumors 601
Apr 18, 2011
4,628
1,735
iOS and Android are just not phones. They are tablets too.

So the total for phones and tablets for iOS would be in the US:
30.2% + whatever stupidly high % for tablets.

You all get my point. Talking about android/iOS without tablets is simply missing the whole picture.
 
faroZ06

faroZ06

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2009
3,387
1
rsands1 said:
Android phones are given away for free like it's going out of style, have 10,000 different phones on the market and are on every carrier known to mankind. Who gives a crap if they have 50% market share. Their ecosystem still sucks, is ridden with spyware apps, get's the crappiest support from developers and gets zero love from Google in regards to actually updating the OS. They could have 99.9% market share for all I care and it wouldn't make any difference to how I feel about those kind of phones. I'm 150,000% satisfied with my iPhone 4, will buy the iPhone 5 and continue to buy each iteration of the iPhone after that. Nobody can compete with Apple :)
Click to expand...

I agree that Android smells like poo, but the market share does matter. Sure people will be using a horrible system, but a LOT of people will be using it. Just look at Windows.

But I think iOS is still ahead of Android in market share as well as publicity, so they're fine.
 
ChazUK

ChazUK

macrumors 603
Feb 3, 2008
5,393
25
Essex (UK)
What is going on with Microsoft? I assume that some of the losses from MS's side is the decrease in Windows Mobile handset sales but WP7 really needs some momentum.

First it was NoDo that was supposed to bring sales, then people were saying Mango was Microsoft's turning point, now we wait for Nokia and the Lumia 710 and 900 to turn things around. I think my Titan and WP7 are great but it's a shame to see the lack of progress from Microsoft in the U.S.

Well done to Apple (especially as the iOS share is all of theirs).
 
faroZ06

faroZ06

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2009
3,387
1
the8thark said:
iOS and Android are just not phones. They are tablets too.

So the total for phones and tablets for iOS would be in the US:
30.2% + whatever stupidly high % for tablets.

You all get my point. Talking about android/iOS without tablets is simply missing the whole picture.
Click to expand...

Don't forget non-phone, non-tablet devices like the iPod touch and Apple TV.
 
D

Dmunjal

macrumors 68000
Jun 20, 2010
1,533
1,542
rsands1 said:
Android phones are given away for free like it's going out of style, have 10,000 different phones on the market and are on every carrier known to mankind. Who gives a crap if they have 50% market share. Their ecosystem still sucks, is ridden with spyware apps, get's the crappiest support from developers and gets zero love from Google in regards to actually updating the OS. They could have 99.9% market share for all I care and it wouldn't make any difference to how I feel about those kind of phones. I'm 150,000% satisfied with my iPhone 4, will buy the iPhone 5 and continue to buy each iteration of the iPhone after that. Nobody can compete with Apple :)
Click to expand...

That's what most Mac users said about the PC and Windows in the early 90s.
 
Taz Mangus

Taz Mangus

macrumors 604
Mar 10, 2011
7,815
3,504
faroZ06 said:
Don't forget non-phone, non-tablet devices like the iPod touch and Apple TV.
Click to expand...

I agree. I bet the pundits would be more then happy to point out that if Android had more non-phone devices running Android that they demand that they be counted under the Android numbers.
 
faroZ06

faroZ06

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2009
3,387
1
NAG said:
And this is different from the companies that sell "new" smart phones running Android 2.2 how? At least the 3GS is still upgradeable.
Click to expand...

The old iPhones are the low-end iPhones. Same with Macs. You want a cheap, low-end Mac? Get an old one.

Apple is pretty smart; rather than making more models (which is inefficient), they allow the older ones to just be the cheap ones. This is how the >$500G company operates.
 
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