Android Outpaces iPhone in Share of New U.S. Smartphone Customers for First Half of 2010

[MacRumors]

Nielsen today released data on smartphone usage in the U.S., revealing that Google's Android platform has outpaced the iPhone among new smartphone customers for the first half of 2010. The news comes as a marked reversal from the second half of 2009, when the iPhone topped Android 34% to 6% market share among new smartphone customers.

While the iPhone has been the headline grabber over the last few years in the smartphone market, Google's Android OS has shown the most significant expansion in market share among current subscribers. Android's rise is even more noticeable among new smartphone subscribers in the last six months where Android has nosed past Apple's iOS in the last quarter to grab a 27% share of those recent smartphone subscribers.

Taking into account total U.S. user base, however, Apple still leads Android, 28% to 13%. Both trail Research in Motion, which holds a 35% overall market share and 33% share of those customers new to smartphones in the first half of the year.

Earlier this year, NPD released somewhat similar data for the first quarter of 2010, claiming that Android handsets had outsold the iPhone in the U.S. Apple CEO Steve Jobs took exception to that and similar claims from others, pointing to Nielsen data at WWDC in early June showing Apple still holding a firm advantage over Android. The data shown by Jobs, however, was Nielsen's overall market share calculation for existing users, while NPD had been referring specifically referring to new sales of new smartphones. With today's release, Jobs' favored source Nielsen now agrees that Android has surpassed the iPhone in new purchases, at least among those who have not owned a smartphone before.

It is also important to note that the first half of 2010 primarily represented the back side of the iPhone's product cycle, with the iPhone 4 only making its appearance in the last few days of the period. The diversified Android platform, in contrast, saw several high-profile device launches in early 2010.

Today's survey from Nielsen also reveals that Research in Motion's lead may not hold up for long, however, as more than half of current BlackBerry owners surveyed are planning to defect from the platform with their next smartphone purchase, with 29% planning to move to the iPhone while 21% plan to pick up an Android-based handset. In contrast, 89% of iPhone owners plan to stick with the iPhone, while 71% of Android owners plan to stay on that platform.



Article Link: Android Outpaces iPhone in Share of New U.S. Smartphone Customers for First Half of 2010

 

[Red Comet]

Awesome.

 

[ihaveNFC]

kinda skewed finding if the iP4 data isn't in there

 

[Simgar988]

Awesome... gotta luv competition.

 

[nfl46]

I figured this would eventually happen. You can't be number one forever.

 

[jav6454]

Yes, lets go ahead and compare over a dozen Android handsets to one iPhone handset. Sure that makes perfect sense.

 

[nfl46]

Yes, lets go ahead and compare over a dozen Android handsets to one iPhone handset. Sure that makes perfect sense.

And who fault is that? Blame Apple. Don't knock Google for releasing a billion phones.

 

[WiiDSmoker]

I figured this would eventually happen. You can't be number one forever.

Apple isn't and wasn't ever #1 in Smart Phone marketshare. What world are you living in?

 

[Tech-Minded]

Yes, lets go ahead and compare over a dozen Android handsets to one iPhone handset. Sure that makes perfect sense.

I wonder who's fault that is...

 

[Full of Win]

Apple, with their total disregard for the customer has done this. They give us a walled garden,no ability to transfer/sell apps, defective equipment that loses signal when held to the point of affecting the call, and moral approval of apps and their content.

I think the people is waking up here, and they don't like the dystopian future that the Apple iOS ecosystem is heralding.

 

[ihaveNFC]

Yes, lets go ahead and compare over a dozen Android handsets to one iPhone handset. Sure that makes perfect sense.

agreed. the trolls should be arriving any minute now

 

[TSE]

I don't see a problem here.

There are more PCs running windows than there are Macs running Mac OS X... it doesn't matter. Apple is still making much more money off their iPhone platform.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Love my new Android!

Also love my new i7 iMac and i7 Macbook Pro!

 

[ilogic]

This is getting boring.

Android vs iOS device, yeah who wins? yeah I thought so...

Single Android Device vs iPhone, yeah who wins? yeah I thought so...

 

[Tech-Minded]

I think the people is waking up here, and they don't like the dystopian future that the Apple iOS ecosystem is heralding.

You sound like a prophet in some kind of Terminator prequel.

 

[groupeone]

iPhone Posts a Record Monthly Usage Share Gain

Worth noting is a new report by NetMarketShare, an analytics organization that measures market share of mobile devices by web use. Their study of the past month shows that the the iPhone grew usage share at over twice the pace of Android. For details, see:

http://www.netmarketshare.com/opera...hone&sample=34&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=115&qpnp=25

 

[topmounter]

Good news for everyone except RIM.... especially with BBOS 6.0 looking to be rather ho-hum.

 

[ihaveNFC]

Love my new Android!

Also love my new i7 iMac and i7 Macbook Pro!

I commend you on the bipartisan approach.

 

[Number 41]

Apple, with their total disregard for the customer has done this. They give us a walled garden,no ability to transfer/sell apps, defective equipment that loses signal when held to the point of affecting the call, and moral approval of apps and their content.

I think the people is waking up here, and they don't like the dystopian future that the Apple iOS ecosystem is heralding.

Ha.

This is the same kind of drivel that the nerdy wanks who pine for an open-source Linux-only future have been spouting for years. Consumers don't give a crap about "open-ness" of a platform. 30-somethings in their mom's basement worry about open platforms.

The simple fact is this: Android is available on multiple carriers and is the "featured product" on the #1 carrier in America (Verizon). As long as Apple is unavailable on the #1 carrier, they'll continue to be outpaced.

 

[peapody]

This is getting boring.

Android vs iOS device, yeah who wins? yeah I thought so...

Single Android Device vs iPhone, yeah who wins? yeah I thought so...

Android?

Haha Android will always win until the iphone comes to Verizon. It is obvious that verizon is enough to keep people from flocking to the iphone. Walled garden indeed.

 

[PerfSeeker]

Yeah but how much profit has AAPL made on the iPhone in 2010 compared to all the other makers combined? It's all about profit baby!

 

[QCassidy352]

WinMo has 13%? How is that possible? I've never seen a single person with a WinMo phone. Do they even sell WinMo phones any more?

 

[jb1280]

Until there are viable equivalents of the iPod touch and iPad running android, these numbers are interesting but fail to show the whole picture.

 

[bobr1952]

I don't see a problem here.

There are more PCs running windows than there are Macs running Mac OS X... it doesn't matter. Apple is still making much more money off their iPhone platform.

This is the way I look at it too. I would not expect iPhone to be number one when there are is only one phone running that OS. It is not a problem, and the comparison is justified--but more or less irrelevant to Apple or anyone else who doesn't care about those statistics.

 

[Number 41]

Oh, and let's not forgot that Android phones are available on various promotions (depending on when you buy) for deals like "free w/ 2 year activation" or BOGO.

If the iPhone were available at the kind of deals Verizon offers, the floodgates would really open.