Android and iPhone Own Nearly The Entire U.S. Smartphone Market

[maflynn]

Do not count MS out..

Not yet, but so far consumers have been cool to WP7 phones, and I suspect that the interface has a lot to do with it. If Nokia doesn't start grabbing more marketshare in 2012/2013 then we can talk about WP7 being counted out

 

[blacktape242]

Rim = rip

 

[Arcsylver]

Not to mention that with the upcoming Windows 8 Microsoft is starting to use Apple's style of complete integration among devices.

Admittedly it is a horrible example of it. But at least they are finally getting the clue that if your Desktop OS and Mobile device OS actually talk to each other they might work better together.

Now if it wasnt so horribly ugly they might actually start making some progress in the Smart phone arena instead of being an also ran like they always seem to be.

It will be interesting to see where the percentages lie in a year or two when Windows 8/Windows Phone 8 have had time to be known. I expect a lot of businesses to look at Windows phone as a replacement for RIM devices do to native integration of MS Office and similar business software.

As for RIM, I am not unhappy to see them going away. They were in many ways the new Palm. A very business centric device that tried to be a consumer device. Saw so many people scurry to get the latest Blackberry only to bring it back and exchange it for an iPhone or Android device.

 

[IzzyJG99]

I imagine Android has that big of a market share because they have multiple phone models running their OS.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

I'd be curious to see how many people own an Android and Apple device (iPhone, Computer, etc.)

 

[fertilized-egg]

Not yet, but so far consumers have been cool to WP7 phones, and I suspect that the interface has a lot to do with it.

I think that has something to do with it since it just looks so different. I've switched to WP7 from Android and it is a nice enough OS. But IMHO it's not really an Android alternative as some have said. It's very much Microsoft's version of iOS through and through with a very different take on the UI style and homescreen. (I don't mean that in a bad way)

If you like Android's hacking ways and file system, WP7 does very little to address those issues. The only thing WP7 and Android share are that they both get made by OEMs in various different form factors. Even then, WP7 currently doesn't support any extra hardware goodies like dualcore, better faster chips or higher resolution.

Thus with WP7, you get a very nice and different but ultimately even more limited version of iOS in hardware that are often just inferior versions of Android equivalents. Nokia is the first litmus test of WP7. Personally I'm still a bit skeptical of WP7 and not because it's a bad OS. It just has too many things stacked against it in the market.

 

[chrono1081]

Except competition is good for the market and the consumer. The more competition, the more push there is to innovate and evolve.

I can't totally agree with that. I know everyone on every thread says "competition is good for us", but competition also leads to fragmentation which is something everyone always forgets about.

I don't think RIM plays a real part in forcing others to innovate since they themselves are so far behind.

 

[jonnysods]

I checked out one of those Google Nexus phones with Android 4 on it. Wow, very impressive phones! The iPhone 5 better be amazing or I might jump over and check them out for a while.

 

[Thunderhawks]

In reality since Android is a copy of ios, it's almost 100% Apple🙂

 

[Konrad9]

The good news is that there is a lot of money in the consumer space. The bad news is that consumers are fickle for the next shiny thing -squirrel!- so Android and iOS can't rest on laurels or presume to maintain dominance. Someone else will come along and disrupt their market eventually. As someone invested with ios, I hope Apple won't get complacent and continues to focus on user experience and reliability over bullet point features.

Bullet point features is kind of what Apple has been selling for the past few years, and it seems to be working pretty well.

 

[maflynn]

In reality since Android is a copy of ios, it's almost 100% Apple🙂

How so, The android OS predates iOS, as google purchased the company that produced it. Its based on linux, has a completely different UI, filesystem and SDK. So what exactly did google copy iOS?

 

[Michael Scrip]

Don't you think the Windows phone is going to start to have a growing market share? Microsoft has deep pockets and I suspect they will support it very strongly.

Of course Microsoft will support it... it's just that no one really sees a reason to buy it.

WP7 commercials aren't all that exciting... and it was so late to the game that everyone is now focused on Android and the iPhone.

Maybe when everyone is running Windows 8 and if there is some amazing integration with Windows Phones... there might be some reason to NOT choose Android or iOS.

But 91% of recent US smartphone purchases were Android and iOS... it will be difficult for Microsoft to change that.

 

[SkyBell]

Such a shame the way Palm went out like they did, I absolutely adored WebOS when I had it, and I would pay very good money to have it back on new phones. I don't understand, it was so user friendly, so innovative and just so much nicer looking than iOS or Android. I guess it just didn't catch on... I miss it. 🙁

 

[chrono1081]

How so, The android OS predates iOS, as google purchased the company that produced it. Its based on linux, has a completely different UI, filesystem and SDK. So what exactly did google copy iOS?

If I remember right (I read about it before but I forget where) it had to do with an Apple engineer working on a similar project and left and either started or joined Android.

 

[kdarling]

Such a shame the way Palm went out like they did, I absolutely adored WebOS when I had it, and I would pay very good money to have it back on new phones. I don't understand, it was so user friendly, so innovative and just so much nicer looking than iOS or Android. I guess it just didn't catch on... I miss it. 🙁

Yep, almost everyone who tried it, loved WebOS. Elegant and powerful UI. I still miss the Touchstone charger. A fair number of the members of my family had a Pixi and adored them.

We were thrilled when HP came in, because we thought they'd finally build the phone of our dreams: a fast and large screened WebOS phone.

Instead, they put out basically the same old phones again. Madness.

 

[radiohead14]

How so, The android OS predates iOS, as google purchased the company that produced it. Its based on linux, has a completely different UI, filesystem and SDK. So what exactly did google copy iOS?

i've raised that question before... crickets.

get ready for some down votes for using logic.

 

[dokujaryu]

I checked out one of those Google Nexus phones with Android 4 on it. Wow, very impressive phones! The iPhone 5 better be amazing or I might jump over and check them out for a while.

Finally, a relevant post.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Not yet, but so far consumers have been cool to WP7 phones, and I suspect that the interface has a lot to do with it. If Nokia doesn't start grabbing more marketshare in 2012/2013 then we can talk about WP7 being counted out

Yeah the interface of WP7 is pretty radically different than what people are used to. It is the first real change to phone interface in over a decade. Android and iOS are great at their core they still use the same basic layout and design that has been in use since the beginning of smart phone (grid layout basic notifications at the top)

It is because it is so different is making people a little slow to move to it. Just look back at the complaining when Office moved to the Ribbon in 2007. After people got over it they found that the Ribbon really is a lot nicer and better.
It just getting that critical mass just unlike breaking into the console market and Office they has much larger ingrained competitors and designs to deal with.

 

[SkyBell]

Yep, almost everyone who tried it, loved WebOS. Elegant and powerful UI. I still miss the Touchstone charger. A fair number of the members of my family had a Pixi and adored them.

Yep, I had a Pixi Plus which was by far my favorite phone I've ever owned. Wish I hadn't ran it over.

We were thrilled when HP came in, because we thought they'd finally build the phone of our dreams: a fast and large screened WebOS phone.

Instead, they put out basically the same old phones again. Madness.

And then discontinued them not half a year later. TouchPad even sooner. They just gave up too soon, and it boggles my mind as to why. They spent how many billions acquiring Palm, and what have they done with the technology? They threw it back into the public with no changes whatsoever, and somehow seemed surprised sales were low. I will admit, the major flaw of WebOS was the large amount of bugs in the software. It needed a real good cleanup and polishing, but it could have been so great. I hear they want to release it open source, but we'll see how that goes. 🙄

 

[Michael Scrip]

How so, The android OS predates iOS, as google purchased the company that produced it. Its based on linux, has a completely different UI, filesystem and SDK. So what exactly did google copy iOS?

Release date. Don't you know that anything released after a certain product is automatically branded a copy? 😀

Why didn't Google announce an amazing new OS and phone on January 9, 2007?

Because it didn't exist.

You gotta remember... the mobile phone industry was pretty stale back then. Just 2 days before Apple's iPhone announcement... Palm announced yet another crappy Treo. Yikes.

Google didn't even announce Android and the whole Open Handset Alliance until 11 months after Apple announced the iPhone... and the first Android phone didn't come out until 22 months after the iPhone was first announced.

Strange timing indeed.

Who knows what Google would have done if it wasn't for the iPhone... they were sitting on Android since 2005.

I would feel better for Android if there were Android phones before the iPhone... and Android tablets before the iPad.

But there weren't. Apple jumpstarted this new mobile revolution. Everything afterwards... you decide.

 

[karlth]

I'm still astounded about how Microsoft managed to flush down their market share in touch devices/smartphones. It must surely must rank as one of the greatest corporate blunders of modern times. 😕

 

[carmenodie]

No big deal when it comes to Android since it's a free OS that all those celly makers have adopted.
Lets see Samsung, HTC(HTC? Heard anything from them lately?) and the rest of those playas dream up and implement their own goddamn OS like Apple. Yeah, lets see that happen.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

One big problem I see with that theory is Android and WP compete directly against each other for OEM attention. There's Nokia who put their best effort with Windows Phone 7 but everyone else either did their Windows Phone 7 somewhat half heartedly, or did not do it at all.

In fact there has been some articles indicating LG is downscaling their Windows Phone effort for a number of reasons. There are only so many experienced mobile engineers in Samsung, HTC, LG, etc and companies have to decide where to concentrate. Windows Phone might gain some market traction, but I just don't see it get all that big unless it takes over Android.

Well remember Nokia was the first one that was given more free rein in design the phones. The others have pretty tight guide lines they are required to follow.

 

[fertilized-egg]

Android and iOS are great at their core they still use the same basic layout and design that has been in use since the beginning of smart phone (grid layout basic notifications at the top)

It is because it is so different is making people a little slow to move to it. Just look back at the complaining when Office moved to the Ribbon in 2007.

As a WP7 user who likes the OS, I'm not really sure if WP7 is really that different. It's just a grid of blocks in its homescreen and a long list of apps, that's it. The grid of icons on the home screen are "live" and large but other than that there isn't something radically different about it.

The biggest differentiator of WP7, IMHO, isn't its function but its minimal aesthetics. IMHO, if WP7 had the same "look" that iOS has, it won't be considered all that different.

Well remember Nokia was the first one that was given more free rein in design the phones. The others have pretty tight guide lines they are required to follow.

Not really. From what I understand they were given more a slightly bit more free rein in software but nothing in the hardware. Other than the design, there isn't anything special about Nokia WP7 phones in terms of hardware - i.e. camera, CPU, RAM, display, etc, they are all identical to WP7 phones from others.

 

[entatlrg]

Remember when Polls used to suggest smart phone owners would never switch from a physical qwerty keyboard like those found on Blackberry's to a touchscreen only device.

What happened with that? 😕 🙂

Yes, things are grim at rim.