Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Overtakes Research in Motion in U.S. Smartphone Usage Share
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
rjohnstone
macrumors 68040
Well yes, but lets add a little perspective here... going from 1 to 5 is technically a 400% increase. The actual number was 26 apps in total.
Now compare that to the thousands of apps out there and you see it's a minor issue at best.
You mean he gleefully enthusiastically joyfully made a factual statement.That's the real point.
You can chose to ignore a members posts. Click the member's name to get to their profile then click 'Add to ignore list' under 'User lists'.
I seem to remember that Apple was shooting for only 5% of the market when they first entered the phone business. If my memory is correct then Apple has done much better then they expected.
Apple has also learned that the iPhone brought them a lot of other business due to the halo effect, so they are very interested in holding or extending their current share for that reason.
While we are really only discussing the various phone OSes, don't forget that Apple has the iOS ecosystem that is more unified and safer than anything that Android has. When (not "if") a Trojan horse or virus gets going through the Android user base, the platform may screech to a halt or slow down and never fully recover its momentum.
I have a half dozen or so posters on this forum that are so clueless they are on my ignore list, and life is good. It's a good feature for this site.
kdarling
Contributor
That brings up a very good point. The chart is not about sales. It's also not about who hits websites. Nor is it a random survey.
Comscore tracks 30,000 registered users who share what devices they use over the years. So their numbers actually say that out of those 30,000 people, right now:
36.4% use Android = 10,920 people.
26.0% use Apple = 7,800 people.
25.7% use RIM = 7,313 people.
6.7% use MS = 2,010 people.
2.6% use Palm = 780 people.
Basically they're following a group of the same people over time, and it's their changing interests that we're seeing. Without paying for the info, we don't know what income or location or other background they have.
These press releases are a type of advertising, in order to get buyers interested in the info Comscore sells.
Last edited:
Palm does not exist, however people still use the Palm phones they bought before Palm was bought out by HP. The survey was not relating to current sales, but of surveyed the users of smart phones, so this survey could even include the first generation of iPhone users, if any 1st gen iPhone still are being used.
It's unlikely that they surveyed any users of the new HP phones using the Palm OS as the survey preceded the introduction of the HP phones to the market. I'm not sure how they might classify the HP phones in the next survey as they are really not yet a different OS from when the phones carried the Palm brand name. They may refer to them as WebOS or HP WebOS. Time will tell.
Geeks, celebs, WHO CARES!!!! I use an iPhone because I enjoy the interface, the quality and the fact that my iPhone 4 isn't obsolete after a year. Sure there are phones out there with faster processors and maybe a better OS, but you know what? That doesn't matter to me. I'm the one that has to use MY phone. I have made educated decisions about what is best for me. I'm comfortable with the mac OS, I like apple as a brand. I feel like the apple company respects me (at least more than most major corporations) as a customer, every time I've had to deal with them in the past. Plus I think they're an innovative company, offering stylish hardware with a sense of quality. Anyone is welcome to disagree with me. This is purely a personal opinion. That's what all this really boils down to.
You love android. Awesome. Glad you've found something that you enjoy...
but seriously...
Choosing a phone based on "geeks" or whatever, that is just...... well, ridiculous dude... REALLY ridiculous.
Last edited:
jprocha
macrumors newbie
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)
What kinds of friends do you have? Even my most simple friends realize which OS their phone is running.
All of my friends have an iPhone or an android phone. The ones without an iPhone realize that their phone is running android.
What kinds of friends do you have? Even my most simple friends realize which OS their phone is running.
All of my friends have an iPhone or an android phone. The ones without an iPhone realize that their phone is running android.
jprocha
macrumors newbie
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)
Where do people get off saying that android is only bought because of it's bargain prices? Most new smartphones cost around $200 with a new contract. Both iOS and android have cheaper phones to compete with one another. People buy the phone they enjoy the most, usually with the best and most up to date features because many realize they will be stuck with the phone they purchase for 2 years. This is why android isahead of the pack: their newer phones are more up to date than apple's. Consumers aren't stupid and don't walk into stores without doing research. Simple searches can find where millions of people are researching phones online before purchasing them (YouTube, news articles, review sites, forums such as these, yahoo answers). People know it's a long term commitment yet still a great deal are choosing android. I wonder why...
Where do people get off saying that android is only bought because of it's bargain prices? Most new smartphones cost around $200 with a new contract. Both iOS and android have cheaper phones to compete with one another. People buy the phone they enjoy the most, usually with the best and most up to date features because many realize they will be stuck with the phone they purchase for 2 years. This is why android isahead of the pack: their newer phones are more up to date than apple's. Consumers aren't stupid and don't walk into stores without doing research. Simple searches can find where millions of people are researching phones online before purchasing them (YouTube, news articles, review sites, forums such as these, yahoo answers). People know it's a long term commitment yet still a great deal are choosing android. I wonder why...
All my friends who are not geeks had a hard time with their Android phones. They hate the phones so much they are willing to sell them with hundreds of dollars loss and to get an iPhone. So far haven't seen anyone satisfied with an Android phone unless it is dirt cheap.
Oletros
macrumors 603
I haven't got an Android phone. 😕
My friends with Android phones enjoy their Android phones. Myself and many of my other friends enjoy our iPhones.
I wasn't saying they picked their iPhones because they were computer wizards and the non-savvy ones automatically went for Android, just that the more technologically minded ones jumped on the smartphone bandwagon early on when the iPhone was the automatic choice and are now hooked on them. The others who couldn't care less about tech are now going for Android because they are freely available at a lot lower cost.
Maybe because we all don't live in the USA? 😉
My friend is about to get a free HTC on a £15 per month contract ($20 before tax). He doesn't know anything about Android or iOS, he just wants a phone with a decent camera which does Facebook and the internet which doesn't cost a fortune.
Last edited:
This matchup you envision has already been played out in markets other than the US. Android still won. Why is it always this "wait till" expectation with for some when it comes to the iPhone versus Android marketshare? The results always remain the same. Android wins.
zap2
macrumors 604
To bad HP/Palm is still struggling, WebOS is a great OS, I prefer it to Andriod no question and iOS for something, not for others.
HP needs to pour some cash into buying apps from developers. Netflix is something they need for sure.
I just am waiting for proof that the market can support 5 OSes....although I doubt Windows Phone is going anywhere(and the other three have enough sales to makes profitable....I'd only expect BB OS to leave but that's for QNX, so that just means we're back up to 5)
For tablets, I'm not missing anything from the iPad(app switching for 4/5 fingers makes mulittasking a breeze and I don't find notifications are important on a tablet, so WebOS's advantages aren't as big plus their tablet is only launching soon, the iPad has a huge head starts and on my tablet, I find I do more that requires 3rd party apps on my tablet then my phone (Netflix, iWork,etc)
HP needs to pour some cash into buying apps from developers. Netflix is something they need for sure.
I just am waiting for proof that the market can support 5 OSes....although I doubt Windows Phone is going anywhere(and the other three have enough sales to makes profitable....I'd only expect BB OS to leave but that's for QNX, so that just means we're back up to 5)
For tablets, I'm not missing anything from the iPad(app switching for 4/5 fingers makes mulittasking a breeze and I don't find notifications are important on a tablet, so WebOS's advantages aren't as big plus their tablet is only launching soon, the iPad has a huge head starts and on my tablet, I find I do more that requires 3rd party apps on my tablet then my phone (Netflix, iWork,etc)
zap2
macrumors 604
Agreed, getting iOS on Sprint and T Mobile at the launch of new hardware(and Verizon getting the same) should help sales( and in 07/08 would likely have gotten Apple's market share to an even larger amount, controlling a mass amount in the US for a time), But the ability of Android to scale across hardware designs of all types means it will win out. That's the reason Windows won out in the 70s and 80s, it's the design of Apple's business model that allows it(which isn't a bad thing, as I think iOS would suffer if Apple built it with HTC, Samsung, LG, etc in mind)
Never will one hardware company be able to control a market(unless perhaps they create it or get in very early, but even then if other big players push hard enough, they can break in....look at the MP3 player market, Apple won that battle, but other companies slowly chipped away and that wasn't nearly as important as tablets/smartphones IMO.)
Smartphones are the forefront of computing now, every one in the desktop business wants to make sure they get a piece of the market that their sales are going, which is tablets and smartphones.
And so Apple will create a great product with an approach that works better in my mind, but Android is quite good and will be able partner with more big players and out sell Apple. Same with MS, I could see them out selling Apple, at least with Nokia on board(even if they only get some of their old market, they will still be a major player)
But that doesn't mean Apple's one device isn't the best fit for many people.
My interest is in HP, a huge hardware player bought a great software product(and the people to keep improving it)...if they play their cards right, I hope to see them take off. Putting WebOS on all their PCs seems like a great move, sure some people might not use it, but as long as it's done so it's not annoying to those who want to avoid it, it has they chance to introduce people so come time to get a new smartphone or tablet, they have experience with WebOS and are that much more likely to jump on board.
jacobj
macrumors 65816
Of course they do: they have most of the largest smartphone manufacturers using Android. Do you think that if Apple gave other hardware manufacturers access to their OS and iTunes Google would maintain it's position. Not a hope in he'll.
Google may well have a larger marksetshare but their market is divided into a whole plethora of little markets, none offers which of the whole experience. The android user loses out unless they are committed to putting in the effort to maximize the potential of their hardware and OS.
The threat to Apple is not there at present, nor does it come from Google itself. The revenue threat to Apple comes from whichever vendor can take a dominant share of the android app market share, whilst also offering media and a simple way to manage all that content. Watch that space, not the one that lists Android as taking larger bites than Apple. They're both taking big chunks..
chrmjenkins
macrumors 603
None of which are Apple's home market. Companies usually perform better in their country of origin. Sony, Microsoft, and Samsung are all great examples, with many more out there. IIRC Apple's revenue is 40% domestic.
Besides, I don't think anyone is saying Apple will lead, just tht the rampant growth and market share difference will taper and shrink.
OllyW - Sorry my mistake.
My apologies to you sir. It looks like I grossly misinterpreted your original post. It had been a long week, with far too little sleep.
My apologies to you sir. It looks like I grossly misinterpreted your original post. It had been a long week, with far too little sleep.
Why do people play all of these excuesses why android has the largest part of the market.
Im tired of the "its because the iphone is only on two networks" guess what that is only in america everywhere else the iphone is sold unlocked and low and behold its not the majority there.
"its because android phones are sold cheaper." Then why are the best selling android phones priced the same or more as the iPhone.
Has it occured to any of you that not everyone wants an iphone. It is that simple. Some people dont want to be tied to iTunes, Somepeople don't want a 3.5" screen. Face it the iPhone is a great phone but not the best phone for everyone, it doesn't work for everyone.
Im tired of the "its because the iphone is only on two networks" guess what that is only in america everywhere else the iphone is sold unlocked and low and behold its not the majority there.
"its because android phones are sold cheaper." Then why are the best selling android phones priced the same or more as the iPhone.
Has it occured to any of you that not everyone wants an iphone. It is that simple. Some people dont want to be tied to iTunes, Somepeople don't want a 3.5" screen. Face it the iPhone is a great phone but not the best phone for everyone, it doesn't work for everyone.
