Android is number one OS among US phone buyers

[dgree03]

iOS is like scarlet johansen, android is like that hooker down the street

iOS is like that pretty and popular prom queen in high school. Everything is going great and she rules her little world, until she graduates and realizes that there is much more and better competition out there.

Android is like that nerd kid in high school that didnt look or dress well. He did everything right and was very smart, but wasnt popular in that small world. then he later becomes rich and everyone from his former school is envious of him.

 

[itsmemuffins]

iOS is like scarlet johansen, android is like that hooker down the street

iOS is more like a chick who thinks shes all that, emotionally fragile, only hears what she wants to hear of her own choosing, and of no use when it comes to functionality.

iOS is like that pretty and popular prom queen in high school. Everything is going great and she rules her little world, until she graduates and realizes that there is much more and better competition out there.

Android is like that nerd kid in high school that didnt look or dress well. He did everything right and was very smart, but wasnt popular in that small world. then he later becomes rich and everyone from his former school is envious of him.

I'm sure you'll get an A for effort in your grade one essay tomorrow.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

15% of Americans still think Sarah Palin would make a good VP too.

The problem is more than 50% think that she or people like her would make an ever better president. We all need to be scared.

 

[chrono1081]

iOS is like scarlet johansen, android is like that hooker down the street

Lol!

Also, what the OP failed to notice is that graph

A. Shows Android as 3rd not first
B. Shows iOS roughly the same across the graph. RIM is the one sinking while Android is rising.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

Well gee, if I'm a big fat company like Google and I create an OS for free and give it away to manufacturers like Samsung and Motorola, then carriers like Verizon start giving the phones away, could it be possible that this free OS will be on more devices than iOS? What a shock!

There is no unity in the Google universe. Android is the underlying OS, not the UI layer. Every manufacturer puts their own UI on top of Android, which is confusing and makes Android look and act differently depending on what version you have and who made your handset. When you create something of value and give it away for free, obviously it's going to gain ground quickly. Google is betting on advertising revenue. However, iOS has a much MUCH larger share of the web than Android. The overwhelming advantage to iOS is staggering in this regard.

There are pros and cons to each platform and each will have a beneficial effect on the other. Android will force iOS to open up some parts of its walled garden, while iOS will force Android to unify its user experience. However, it's clear that Apple needs to step up its game.

 

[Fliesen]

Lol!

Also, what the OP failed to notice is that graph

A. Shows Android as 3rd not first
B. Shows iOS roughly the same across the graph. RIM is the one sinking while Android is rising.

OP pasted the wrong graph from the article

 

[Fliesen]

The problem is more than 50% think that she or people like her would make an ever better president. We all need to be scared.

Just migrate to Russia! I heard you can see it from Alaska with the naked eye, so it shouldn't be that long of a swim

 

[OllyW]

OP pasted the wrong graph from the article

Yes, the graph the OP posted is showing the accumulated share of the market. Yours clearly shows Android is currently outselling iOS.

Just because an album is number one in the charts this week it doesn't mean it's sold more copies than Thriller.

 

[3N16MA]

This is shocking news. Who would have thought that a free OS on multiple phones and multiple carriers would have so many users compared to an OS on one phone and one carrier? Mind blowing!

 

[Fliesen]

Yes, the graph the OP posted is showing the accumulated share of the market. Yours clearly shows Android is currently outselling iOS.

Just because an album is number one in the charts this week it doesn't mean it's sold more copies than Thriller.

don't call it 'yours' please, it's engadget's

anywho. You surely know my opinion of the low importance of market share, still, i do think your music album analogy is ... weak

 

[OllyW]

still, i do think your music album analogy is ... weak

You are right, it's an dreadful album.

 

[BergerFan]

iOS is on one carrier and two devices. Android is on all major carriers and x-amount of devices. Simple maths.
As soon as iPhone hits Verizon, it's game over though.

 

[cdavis11]

In related news:

The entire line of Ford motor company outsells the Ferrari F40.

Film at 11.

 

[Mjmar]

I wonder what will happen to these numbers if the iPhone comes to verizon...

 

[BergerFan]

In related news:

The entire line of Ford motor company outsells the Ferrari F40.

Film at 11.

The perfect analogy.

 

[Wrathwitch]

This is just my opinion on the matter but from what I have seen (only became a fangirl for Apple just recently).

Cell phones existed before the iPhone.

iPhone was released and set the bar for the rest of the phones to catch up to.

The rest ARE catching up. It is my guess that Apple will then decide to release the hounds again and watch everyone catch up.

I mean look at the iPad.

Apple sets the bar.

Everyone else scrambles to catch up, they are releasing their own "pads" in 2011.

Eventually they will catch up.

In the meantime, Apple is not sitting on its butt.

I also agree with one of the posters here stating that both are essential for competetion and it is all preference as to what you want your phone to do.

Without competetion all these cool new features and products would be much slower in the coming.

WW

 

[Savor]

I would go to Android if the PSP phone is released. Been disappointed by the specs of the Nintendo 3DS and how Nintendo is acting arrogant like Sony with the price. Will wait for the PSP 2 or PSP phone. Epic just recently mentioned the 3DS specs is below par to handle the Unreal Engine.

Right now, none of the Android phones that are appealing. Android may eventually be more popular than iOS someday, but it doesn't mean it is better. Especially right now. I want to see manufacturers use a more responsive touchscreen. And use some fancy transitions to make it look smooth like an iPhone. I do like many of Google's services. At this point, I am with a waiting phase with them. Maybe an Android phone for 2011 or after my contract is up for the iP4 in 2012. No rush.

 

[Alaerian]

I wasn't aware that the popularity of the Android OS was supposed to affect my interest in Apple's iOS.

 

[kdarling]

I'll stick to iOS, at least I know it's not fragmenting into a million pieces like android.

Actual iOS updates are in the same piecemeal situation, including old devices left out and new devices like the iPad still running on an old version.

All these phone with different features and different versions means that developers are less likely to develop on the platform.

Apparently this is not true, any more than it "stops" iOS developers. It's just something you have to code around.

I can download apps on the app store knowing I can use them, unlike the android store.

Apps on the Android market are marked just as iOS apps are, with what they're compatible with. For instance, a developer can mark her app to be shown only to people with 1.5 or above and a camera.

 

[mrathee]

Actual iOS updates are in the same piecemeal situation, including old devices left out and new devices like the iPad still running on an old version.

iOS isn't perfect with updates, obviously - nobody can be with outdated hardware vs new hardware

As for the comparison to android - there are, what, 5 major updates for the OS out right now and some users have been waiting over a year for the FIRST of the 5. Others have gotten it, some have gotten terrible versions of it because of their carrier.

With apple, its ios 4, 4.1, 4.2 etc

With droid its froyo, froyo samsung, froyo verizon, froyo LG, sherbet, sherbet 2.0, sherbet 2.0 samsung, sherbet 2.0 verizon, etc etc etc

The fragmenting that the other poster was speaking of dwarfs iOS's "fragmentation" entirely.

 

[chrono1081]

iOS isn't perfect with updates, obviously - nobody can be with outdated hardware vs new hardware

As for the comparison to android - there are, what, 5 major updates for the OS out right now and some users have been waiting over a year for the FIRST of the 5. Others have gotten it, some have gotten terrible versions of it because of their carrier.

With apple, its ios 4, 4.1, 4.2 etc

With droid its froyo, froyo samsung, froyo verizon, froyo LG, sherbet, sherbet 2.0, sherbet 2.0 samsung, sherbet 2.0 verizon, etc etc etc

The fragmenting that the other poster was speaking of dwarfs iOS's "fragmentation" entirely.

+1

Anyone who thinks iOS is "just as bad" as Android when it comes to fragmentation doesn't know what "fragmentation" really is.

Imagine if every 20 iPhones produced (or however many phones run android) all had different looking UIs, had different hardware, had different features enabled/disabled, and ran at different speeds. That would be fragmentation.

 

[chrono1081]

OP pasted the wrong graph from the article

Ah ok THAT explains it ! I wondered why no one seemed to catch on to what I was saying

 

[Fliesen]

Actual iOS updates are in the same piecemeal situation, including old devices left out and new devices like the iPad still running on an old

personally, i think iOS 4.2 will unify the iPad and the classic iOS devices

Also, iOS doesn't support the 3 year old iPhone 2G anymore. the T-Mobile G1, released in late 2008 is (by official means) stuck at Android 1.6 :/

 

[kdarling]

The fragmenting that the other poster was speaking of dwarfs iOS's "fragmentation" entirely.

It would seem so by percentages, but not by the actual numbers of people affected.

There are 6 million iPhones which are _already_ permanently outside the upgrade loop. Another 36 million (3G and 3GS) are partially so.

I guarantee you that iOS' fragmentation currently dwarfs Android's by several tens of millions of users

In neither case is it a "real" problem, though. Phones don't stop working, and apps can still be built to be backward compatible. All it means is those users simply can't always get the latest and greatest, even if their phone can handle it (which it might not be able to).

Anyone who thinks iOS is "just as bad" as Android when it comes to fragmentation doesn't know what "fragmentation" really is.

Anyone who thinks iOS doesn't have a problem, isn't putting much thought into it. See above.

Imagine if every 20 iPhones produced (or however many phones run android) all had different looking UIs, had different hardware, had different features enabled/disabled, and ran at different speeds. That would be fragmentation.

That's just normal tech differentiation, no different than writing a PC or Mac app to run on as many computers as possible.

You're not a developer, are you?

 

[kevinof]

What about the rest of the World? I don't see Verizon anywhere outside the U.S!

iOS is on one carrier and two devices. Android is on all major carriers and x-amount of devices. Simple maths.
As soon as iPhone hits Verizon, it's game over though.