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

[notabadname]

By the same logic, it would appear that because Apple only produces three desktop models and three laptop models, that it makes no sense to compare market shares of Windows and OS X. Am I right?

There is nothing wrong with the comparison of the market share if you so choose. But the comparison is not very valid, since Apple is not trying to position its operating system onto other manufacturer's products. The article speaks of Androids gain in a market share race that Apple is not running in. Thus the point of my post.

If Apple provided its OS to Samsung, Motorolla, LG group, HTC Corporation among others and was now losing share to Android on those same platforms, then the article would be statistically relevant. Apple is a hardware company first, for which they provide their own software. So the articles comparison of Android market share versus iOS 4 is really not very relevant. Apple is not in a license race to distribute its software to take market share from Google.

The iPhone, as a piece of Hardware, has out sold every other smartphone on the market, including any individual Blackberry product or any individual Android piece of hardware. That is Apple's race, and they are still winning it, by a comfortable margin.

And in your comparison of Apple's computer lineup, it has a very substantial and growing share of the market when compared by manufacturer. Again, if you want to compare Apple market share versus all others, feel free. But it is not a competitive measure of Apple. While they only have nearly 9% of the market share of all PC's, they have 91% of the market for ALL PC's sold with a price of greater than $1,000. Comparing the OS however is irrelevant. Apple doesn't sell it's OS as an install option on other PC's so why is a comparison versus Windows market share relevant? Apple again sells hardware. It sells more PC's than Sony (another high-end PC retailer) for example. I don't think BMW is worried about selling fewer cars than all other auto manufactures combined either. There is a reason why Apple's market Cap is greater than Microsoft's. That is because they realize that controlling 90% of a high-end, high-profit market is far more important than controlling a less than 10% share of the budget-ended, low-margined, "crap" market.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Sprint 4G? People have reported that speeds are slower than 3G. 4G is also only in a few cities, with spotty coverage.

I have coverage from my work all the way to about 2 blocks from my house. 5.5Mbps download.

Also at my house my gf's phone on AT&T has no service, my Sprint service has 3 bars of 3G (she has an iPhone.)

 

[BaldiMac]

It's a fair point, but I think due to the dissimilarity of platforms you have to segment them off for comparison purposes. There are "smartphones", "tablets", "desktops" etc.

Certainly when taking into account iPad and Touch then Apple have a larger market share than was reported. I doubt if they would ever be classified as smartphones by IDC and the like though. They're bought for different purposes than a smartphone and so not easy to group together.

No doubt there will be a splurge of even more Android tablets on the market soon, and also no doubt sites like this will be making comparisons between iPads and Android tablets (followed by lots of complaints about how unfair it is comparing dozens of Android tablets to one or two Apple tablets ). C'est la vie .

The point is to find some sort of meaning in the numbers. There is little point in iPhone vs Android OS. If you are looking at the size of the platform for developers to target, then compare iOS vs Android. If you are looking at phone sales, compare all phones from a single manufacturer vs Apple (aka iPhone) or individual phones vs iPhone. If you are looking at revenue, compare revenue by manufacturer or phone model. If you are looking at profits, compare.... well nothing really compares to iPhone in terms of profits right now.

 

[LagunaSol]

No one claimed it's a magical platform. No one claimed he's an engineer. You did. And you basically are saying that those claims are wrong. So using that logic, you are proving yourself wrong.

Behold the power of the strawman argument!

I know one person with a Windows Mobile device - and yes, he does seem to keep it well hidden . To give him credit though, he is holding out for Windows Mobile 7. He's almost counting the days...

I find this amusing, as WinPho7 completely scraps everything to do with WinMo. WinMo was the stuffy, business type phone. Now MS is saying "screw you" to the stuffy, business types (aka "their bread and butter") and coming out with an all-new, hipster-focused mobile OS ("Look, the text spills off the screen! EDGY!!! Oh, BTW, none of your old apps will work. Sorry 'bout that.").

Moving from WinMo to WinPho is the same as moving from WinMo to any other smartphone OS. But hey, I suppose Microsoft fanboys exist too.

I can't wait for the astroturfing tidal wave that will be the WinPho release.

 

[Fubar1977]

You don't know what quality means do you? That's called design. The little spot you're talking about is part of the antenna. Antennas are part of a device's design, not quality. Quality refers to the kinds of material used, manufacturing process, etc. You also don't know that not many products use regular glass anymore. Most are strengthened or chemically modified. The iPhone's Gorilla Glass is an example of that. It's not brittle like regular glass.

Steve Jobs doesn't actually design products anymore. It's more Jonathan Ive. If you want to prove your lack of knowledge, please go ahead. People need to laugh at other people's ignorance. But people don't want to be laughed at. Just a tip.

Android does give you choices. I know because I owned an Android phone before I went to iPhone. Android is going to win in numbers. But that doesn't make it better. There are other factors that determine a platform's superiority over another. Android devices are poor quality, relative to iPhone 4. Name one device with a metal chassis. Quality also refers to the apps associated with the platform. UI design is another factor important to people. So is security and stability. An open marketplace is not secure by any means. Stability also declines when the number of hardware configurations increases.

HTC Legend, aluminium unibody, better looking then IP4,better design than IP4 imo and looks way better next to my MBP.
I like the IP4, don`t get me wrong but there are some nice android units out there.
Personal preference.

 

[heisetax]

Verizon to Sprint

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.

I changed from Verizon to Sprint just a couple of weeks ago. I did purchase 2 Android phones in that process. But it was more about my family & main cell phone talking friend having Sprint than Android or not. this is because Cerizon has Android that I did not have before. Also AT&T has the iPhone. But AT&T being AT&T I did not want to go there even though I have been a Mac User since 1984. That was 2 more for Android, both as new smart phone users.

The phone synced out of the box with only naming my mobileme account.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I find this amusing, as WinPho7 completely scraps everything to do with WinMo. WinMo was the stuffy, business type phone. Now MS is saying "screw you" to the stuffy, business types (aka "their bread and butter") and coming out with an all-new, hipster-focused mobile OS ("Look, the text spills off the screen! EDGY!!! Oh, BTW, none of your old apps will work. Sorry 'bout that.").

Moving from WinMo to WinPho is the same as moving from WinMo to any other smartphone OS. But hey, I suppose Microsoft fanboys exist too.

I can't wait for the astroturfing tidal wave that will be the WinPho release.

WinMo had lost its business market to the Blackberry and were just falling farther behind every day. Android and the iPhone were stealing gaining market share in the business world and that was all coming from what WinMo controlled any how they were not stealing from RIM hold on it.

MS made the right move to start over and start fresh. They had so little marketshare left it is not a huge loss for them to start over with a new OS. They would be able to hold on to their fans before they completely lost them and move to a next gen OS.

 

[mk_in_mke]

A lot of good comments in this thread...

... What is important to notice is the similarity with the PC business with a twist to it: Google Android OS is becoming the Microsoft in the mobile market... Android offering is shared amongst many brands vs. Apple and the IOS... When looking at each brand, Apple still leads the market... I can only think about one thing now: Jobs, when he introduced IPhone in 2007 said "We just want 1% of the market share" and he succeeded beyond expectations... Only, imagine if Apple had allowed Phone manufacturers the license the IOS...

I prefer Apple's approach... The fact that it is a "closed' ecosystem does not bother me at all... A phone is a phone is a phone after all, right? Apple has taken the vertical integration approach that allows me to enjoy my digital life and the perfect integration with OS X...

That other people prefer Android... So be it... I checked a lot of equipment running Android and I never felt confident in the quality of the hardware and the look of the UI and the apps and navigation... Android is not a bad system, I suppose, since so many users are choosing it over Apple... May be the cost of the hardware when you contract with Verizon, sprint... My habits are with Apple.

The real loser in all this is Microsoft... Big time loser in the mobile market... Would you agree?

 

[BrianKonarsMac]

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...

Wait, so you're suggesting that they should compare one single Android device to all of the iPhone's sold so you can have Apple win?

It's a fair comparison to compare all of the Android smartphones sold to all of the iPhones sold. If you want to skew it so that Apple will "win", then why even bother? Apple can produce any number of different iPhone models if they chose to do so... but they have chosen not to.

 

[tbrinkma]

It's platform vs. platform really. The apps will go to the platform with the bigger install base. People should clearly be seeing the parallel here between the Mac and Windows desktop battle. iPhone is going to lose. Vertical integration ALWAYS loses. Steve Jobs hasn't changed in 30 years, and he's actually had many many failings. I use an iPhone 4, but it's pretty obvious to me that it's going to "lose".

Actually, the platform with the bigger install base is Blackberry. Not a huge app market there.

Between Android OS and iOS? The bigger install base is still iOS, and likely will be for quite some time.

The most consistent platform across the install base? Again, that's iOS. So far, across all iOS devices, you have 2 screen resolutions, and 2 screen sizes. That does quite a bit to simplify interface design, making it easier to develop apps for the platform.

How many different screen resolutions and sizes are there for Android phones? (Seriously. I've lost track at this point.)

That's just one feature among many which needs to be abstracted away by the 'platform'. The Android 'platform' can't even decide on a single UI framework, much less a single widget-set. There's comparatively little internal consistency across the breadth of the Android 'platform' for developers to take advantage of.

On iOS, you have the same widget-set, and two different screen sizes for which to develop an interface. (You can knock that down to 1 size if you're willing to skip the iPad.) Optimizing for the two different screen resolutions on the smaller screen size is a simple matter of providing higher quality graphics for the high-res case, or using the same high-res graphics for both case and allowing the platform to manage the display resolution.

 

[LagunaSol]

WinMo had lost its business market to the Blackberry and were just falling farther behind every day. Android and the iPhone were stealing gaining market share in the business world and that was all coming from what WinMo controlled any how they were not stealing from RIM hold on it.

MS made the right move to start over and start fresh. They had so little marketshare left it is not a huge loss for them to start over with a new OS. They would be able to hold on to their fans before they completely lost them and move to a next gen OS.

I'm not so sure this was the right move. In fact, I think it was the wrong move. Seems MS couldn't decide which side to focus on (business or consumer) and completely dumped one while diverting attention back to the other.

So if business users are now getting the shaft from Microsoft in mobile and will subsequently turn to Apple (coming on strong in enterprise mobile), RIM (already the entrenched leader) or Google, and we know how well Microsoft's efforts with the "cool kids" have gone with pocket devices (see Zune, see KIN), I think Microsoft may have dropped the only real customer base it had a shot at.

Only time will tell, of course. But Microsoft Hipster Phone seems to have the bells of doom just waiting to toll.

And I'm not sure who Microsoft expects to sell their mobile OS to when the hardware makers can get their OS for free from Google. I'll bet MS will be going the free route to start. Actually, even further than that - I wouldn't be surprised if MS is going to pay hardware makers to make WinPho devices to get out of the gate.

 

[BrianKonarsMac]

I prefer Apple's approach... The fact that it is a "closed' ecosystem does not bother me at all... A phone is a phone is a phone after all, right? Apple has taken the vertical integration approach that allows me to enjoy my digital life and the perfect integration with OS X...

I would strongly disagree that "a phone is a phone is a phone", as the smartphones are more mini computers these days, with phone capabilities, than phones with computer like capabilities.

For example, my phone is my mobile email, my GPS, my handheld gaming device, and so much more (like finding a decent meal on vacation). I use my phone less as a phone, and more as a computer in my pocket. I care what hardware my phone has (how big the screen is, what resolution the screen is, how well I can read it in different lighting conditions, how much RAM it has so things stay smooth...etc.). I'm in the minority of people buying a phone, as most people just "want the one with more GBs!" (see the EVO vs iPhone youtube video if you haven't).

Right now, with Apple, I have basically one choice - an iPhone 4. Sure I could buy a lower end unit, but never would.

So what if I want a larger screen? What if I want a physical keyboard? Unfortunately, I don't think there is a "one size fits all" device out there and appreciate choice.

 

[LagunaSol]

Moved to Android myself this month and it's great, but when Apple finally does something about their notification system I may be tempted back.

Agreed. The iOS notification system is a big bag of hurt. I can't believe Apple is still limping along with this at version 4. Shameful.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Agreed. The iOS notification system is a big bag of hurt. I can't believe Apple is still limping along with this at version 4. Shameful.

That again is one reason I thus far like Android. I don't have to wait for Apple. Some smart developer out there doesn't like XYZ and creates a fix for it. I download it, problem solved. It has its pros and cons I know. The iPhone is the best I realize this, but iOS is the best idea, implemented in not the best way.

 

[LagunaSol]

That again is one reason I thus far like Android. I don't have to wait for Apple. Some smart developer out there doesn't like XYZ and creates a fix for it. I download it, problem solved. It has its pros and cons I know. The iPhone is the best I realize this, but iOS is the best idea, implemented in not the best way.

Jailbreaking an iPhone also kills the need to wait for Apple. Seems the best of both worlds - the polish and app selection of the iOS platform with the flexibility of Android. So the ultimate "open" device is not an Android device at all, but a jailbroken iPhone.

I don't know what is out there in jailbreakland for notification systems though. I haven't dipped my foot in that pool yet.

 

[organerito]

agreed. the trolls should be arriving any minute now

Two of them were already here.


I keep using my ipod touch, but it is just a matter of time before I buy an Android device. i like Froyo.

 

[NetScheduler]

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

It sure does. They're talking about the phone platform and market-share. Apple chose to limit their iOS cell phones to 1 device. If Apple doesn't create more iOS telephones in coming years, Androids market-share could double Apple's as more and more Android phones come to market.

I'm not arguing here whether Apple's strategy here is right or wrong, but I do at least understand the article and it does make perfect sense.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Jailbreaking an iPhone also kills the need to wait for Apple. Seems the best of both worlds - the polish and app selection of the iOS platform with the flexibility of Android. So the ultimate "open" device is not an Android device at all, but a jailbroken iPhone.

I don't know what is out there in jailbreakland for notification systems though. I haven't dipped my foot in that pool yet.

I had my phone jailbreaked and also had some major customizations done to it. I noticed my phone ran like crap.

 

[Tonewheel]

And...?

Sounds like we're back to the old Mac vs Windows drivel.

I don't give a rat's behind who's number 1....or why it is at all important. Cuz it's not.

 

[mojohanna]

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.

It has nothing to do with this. Its Apple's one handset, (two or three depending on if you included data on the touch and ipad) and the fact that they are on only one carrier here in the US.
Open the iphone up to Sprint, Verizon etc in the US and they will see an explosion of growth.
Personally, I think this is going to happen within the next 12-18 months. They can't keep leaving that much cash on the table and expecting that the halo effect is of things like the ipad are going to bring people over to AT&T. The people who purely wanted the iPhone have already switched to ATT. The rest won't due to ATT network.

 

[lilo777]

Sounds like we're back to the old Mac vs Windows drivel.

I don't give a rat's behind who's number 1....or why it is at all important. Cuz it's not.

It depends. If iPhone becomes as marginal player as OS X is it'll suffer the same problems: little interest from application developers and hardware manufacturers.

 

[bkspero]

Its the benefit of competition

Exactly. Kinda stupid. "Our 25 phones can outsell your 1!"
Not to mention the "Buy a Droid, get one free" deals.

No one is going to buy a poor phone, whether there are 25 of them on 10 different carriers, or 1 on a single carrier. The beauty of competition in the Android market is that phone makers are aggressively competing with each other to make newer and better phones, and selling the older phones at lower prices. Compare that to 2-3 phones a year from Apple (iP4 at different memory levels). One set of features, good (like the camera and display) or bad (like the flawed antenna design or the shatter-prone, exposed-edge glass screen). To Apple's credit, like obsolete Android phones, Apple does sell a prior generation phone for bargain basement pricing (3GS for $99).

The reason, I think, that Android sales have blown by the iPhone is that more customers can get what they want in a high quality phone from some product in the Android universe they can from Apple. For those people, the Android phone is better (meets their needs better).

The iPhone may be prettier, or have a better camera, or have facetime, but this large and growing customer base is more diverse than that. They want what they want, not what Steve Jobs says they should have. So if its a bigger screen, or a phone that doesn't drop calls, or higher screen contrast ratio, or a physical keyboard, or built-in tethering, or real multi-tasking, or built in navigation with street-view, or a dozen other features available in Android and not iPhone; then that person will buy the Android phone that fits their needs.

 

[bkspero]

It helps when you have a buy one get one free deal on Droids!

Much like a $99 iPhone 3GS

 

[NC MacGuy]

Incidentally, I got to play with Droid X this past weekend -- the thing should have no problems with the "death grip" signal loss, because the effing thing is too big to death grip unless you use both hands.

You must have baby hands.

Droid X arriving tomorrow for big boy hands.

 

[bkspero]

Yes, company B's donuts taste much better

If that were the case, then company A's sales wouldn't have roared past that of company B in about a year of real product availability.

For you, however, I'm sure that company B's donuts are great. As I wrote before, some few will continue to buy from company B despite the majority of people recognizing the superiority of company A's product.

Enjoy.