Over 10% of U.S. Mobile Phone Users Now on an iPhone

[dashiel]

4.6% growth for Android compared to .8% for iOS? Ouch. Looking forward to how the fanboys are going to argue that a slower growth rate and a lower market share is actually better for Apple.

Zombie Androids. It’s really quite simple, if you work in an arena where paying attention to actual device use vs. sales is critical to your business it’s readily apparent that while Android may be shipping/selling a lot more devices, a significant, perhaps even majority, of Android users are using their phones as little more than phones.

I develop apps and mobile sites and generic Android simply isn’t an appealing market for a small developer with the exception of the “niche” devices, or at least the Nook is proving to be quite a valuable market place and I expect the Amazon Fire will also be a great opportunity. The difference between these two devices and Android as offered by the mobile carriers is they have cultivated an ecosystem that is safe, far less cluttered with crap apps, content and a loyal customer base.

These devices are another type of Android Zombies, but it’s the devices that are Zombies rather than the users. The users are very active, but the devices are completely orphaned from the Android ecosystem.

A bigger market share is simply a bigger market share. In very simplistic terms 99% market share that earned you $1 isn’t better than 1% market share that earned you $100. The iPhone makes more money for Apple than all of Google.

Additionally Google and its partners has failed to create much “stickiness” with the Android ecosystem. Google because it derives 95% of its income from advertising must appeal to the broadest range of consumers as possible, they will continue to make apps for iOS and Blackberry and if Windows phones get enough traction for Windows phones, because they have to. This makes it easy for an Android user to leave Android and head to WPS7 or Blackberry or iOS. Contrary Apple, Amazon and Barnes & Noble are creating content that requires you to continue to use their products. Every year a user is part of the iOS ecosystem is additional expense moving to another platform.

I see one of two things happening with the market share race. It stays relatively the same with Android hitting 50-ish percent of the market mostly at the expense of BB, while Apple sticks right around 25%. Or as smartphones and tablets become more mainstream some of the Zombie Android users will start to realize the benefits of a smartphone and the superior nature of the iPhone will draw them to iOS.

 

[BC2009]

one must assume that the rich 1% occupy all hates have iphones, so that means 9% of the 99% occupiers are sitting there with their iphones...

impressive how with everyone bitching about the economy 10% have iphones. People find a way to afford stuff they want.

Your extrapolation is flawed since it assumes 100% of US citizens own a mobile phone (though you may be close). It could be the occupiers are in the Richard Stallman camp of refusing to own a mobile phone and simply asking to use somebody else's phone when they need to make a call.



Anyway, I will close with my favorite Android chart that I have seen all year.
Go check it out and ask yourself if Apple gets their customers to upgrade by getting them to love their current phones, and if Android gets customers to upgrade by getting them to hate their current phones. The sad thing is that the "Nexus S" which was just released less than a year ago will not get the upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich. Very sad indeed. No wonder the new Android phones have processors that are clocked so high -- without them they could not run the newer versions of the operating system at a bearable speed.

UPDATE: The report I previously read must have been wrong, because I am now reading on The Verge that the "Nexus S" will get Ice Cream Sandwich.

 

[sishaw]

This does not include 4S

Even more so, then.

 

[paul4339]

a. mobile subscribers are holding steady/slightly shrinking for Sam/LG/Moto, increasing for Apple, and dropping slightly for RIM

b. Android platform is growing faster than market (+4.6), iOS growing same as market, RIM dropping (-4.6)


Here's what I think is probably happening:

Existing smartphone subscribers are moving from RIM to Android.
New subscribers are moving more to Apple.
Any growth from Android is coming from 'others' (??) (ZTE, HTC)


edit: sorry, didn't realize the first table was smartphones+dumbphones ... Sam/LG/Moto is contributing to Android (smartphone) growth due to migrations from dumbphones. This jives with Samsungs recent reports of 300% y/y growth in their smartphones.

.

 

[nagromme]

4.6% growth for Android compared to .8% for iOS? Ouch. Looking forward to how the fanboys are going to argue that a slower growth rate and a lower market share is actually better for Apple.

It’s not better for Apple. It’s bad. It’s just not nearly AS bad as the growth for all the Android handset makers on that chart Nor as bad the profits those companies are making from the phones, which is what really matters to a company! In that regard, Apple is doing much better than Android.

Now, forgetting about what’s good for Apple or Google or any given Android handset maker, and looking at what’s good for actual users, we on iPhone have a great experience that Android cannot match.

Android’s growth is not a result of quality. It’s many parties all added together filling a vacuum with minimum risk and effort, feeding users who, in most cases, have no idea what they’re getting.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

I can't wait for the iPhone 5 to come out thats when I will switch back to an iPhone. I haven't had an iPhone since the iPhone 2G and my EVO has been amazing to me but, as an Apple owner I would love having another iPhone.

 

[Wicked1]

4.6% growth for Android compared to .8% for iOS? Ouch. Looking forward to how the fanboys are going to argue that a slower growth rate and a lower market share is actually better for Apple.

Android's growth will slow a bit and Apple will grow, I think in the next 2 years it will be close, but then again it all depends on what happens with Apple, and will be interesting to see what Google does with Motorola if that gets approved. The Moogle combination will hurt the other Android phone MFG's to some extent.

 

[eNcrypTioN]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Not surprised at all, iPhone ftw!

 

[ThanksSteve]

And iPhone was the only one with an increase for the first chart. The rest were either the same or worse. If Apple can lower the price a bit, it would take it to another level.

 

[dukebound85]

I must run in a crazy circle but no joke, 3/4 people I interact with tend to have iphones

 

[FrizzleFryBen]

I can't wait until the figure is 100%. I want everyone in the world to have an iPhone. Then we will have truly reached Utopia.

It's not for everyone. Nor do I want to take tech support calls from my mom, my grandmother and my less than brilliant brother. Not to mention, some people just don't need and/or want the power and technology.

Utopia is free beer anyway.

 

[cvaldes]

Android's growth will slow a bit and Apple will grow, I think in the next 2 years it will be close, but then again it all depends on what happens with Apple, and will be interesting to see what Google does with Motorola if that gets approved. The Moogle combination will hurt the other Android phone MFG's to some extent.

I don't think so.

Android's growth is being driven by the race to the bottom: inexpensive phones in southeast Asia is driving the record number of Android handset activations.

Zombie Androids. It’s really quite simple, if you work in an arena where paying attention to actual device use vs. sales is critical to your business it’s readily apparent that while Android may be shipping/selling a lot more devices, a significant, perhaps even majority, of Android users are using their phones as little more than phones.

I develop apps and mobile sites and generic Android simply isn’t an appealing market for a small developer with the exception of the “niche” devices, or at least the Nook is proving to be quite a valuable market place and I expect the Amazon Fire will also be a great opportunity. The difference between these two devices and Android as offered by the mobile carriers is they have cultivated an ecosystem that is safe, far less cluttered with crap apps, content and a loyal customer base.

These devices are another type of Android Zombies, but it’s the devices that are Zombies rather than the users. The users are very active, but the devices are completely orphaned from the Android ecosystem.

The low-end Android users aren't really using the devices as smartphones, but more like touchscreen feature phones. They call, text, e-mail, look at the occasional web page, maybe use Facebook/whatever, take the odd snapshot, but aren't downloading and using apps.

 

[voonyx]

No surprise here.

 

[justinfreid]

iMessage all the way

Ten percent of US mobile phone users, plus all those on iPads and iTouches, makes iMessage a really viable messaging platform and will hopefully save people money on SMSs in the long run. Unfortunately, going through my address book, far fewer than 10% of individuals have registered with iMessage, I wonder what percentage of the 10% is on iOS 5.

 

[pandemis]

Consistent user experience

27% of the market using a highly consistent, well integrated and matured product economy (iPhone) beats 44% of a fractured and inconsistently integrated multi-vendor product line (Android) any day.

There are good devices in the Android realm, and some dogs and poor cousins. Lumping all vendors as one against iPhone skews the relative fairness of the chart (an observation, not a complaint). As a consumer I'm not bolted to every product Apple makes, but I like most of it and use it if I can. I like the idea of Android and it's interesting to see the variety of devices using it, but few are directly comparable to iPhone, the numbers might be more like: iPhone 27% vs equivalent Android devices 10% (more? less?).

 

[iRobby]

I'm confused :

This says 28% http://www.appleinsider.com/article...martphone_maker_as_iphone_holds_28_share.html

this says both 4% and 14% http://www.appleinsider.com/article...rtphones_after_iphone_transition_quarter.html

Which is it?

28% 14% 10% or 4%

 

[needa]

I hope it doesn't go too high. Whats the point of having a better product than someone else, if everyone has an iPhone.

as someone who used to think the same way, i can honestly say you couldnt be more wrong. how can you sit there with your problem plagued 4Steve and still think you have a superior product?

 

[cliveren13]

Wow

Even when the news is bad its spun on here to be good news less market share equals better but if Apple had more marketshare they would be gods WOW. are we that nieve here

 

[Wickedgardengtp]

as someone who used to think the same way, i can honestly say you couldnt be more wrong. how can you sit there with your problem plagued 4Steve and still think you have a superior product?

problem plagued? Really? regardless of the Siri and minor battery issues, the 4S is STILL a superior product. The UI alone is the best I've seen so far.

 

[voonyx]

Even when the news is bad its spun on here to be good news less market share equals better but if Apple had more marketshare they would be gods WOW. are we that nieve here

If apple had more marketshare in a 300 to 3 market, yes...they would be gods.

Just like if android had less marketshare in the current market, they would truly be laughable

 

[AppleElite]

Do you hear the sound? The sound of desperate Fandroids crying in terror? I do.

 

[inkswamp]

4.6% growth for Android compared to .8% for iOS? Ouch. Looking forward to how the fanboys are going to argue that a slower growth rate and a lower market share is actually better for Apple.

Who needs to spin it? Yeah, so it was slower than Android, but we're talking one company with a year-old product on 2 carriers against all Android partners, including a ceaseless onslaught of newer, less expensive phones with better specs, combined. You don't find the fact that Apple thrived in that situation at all noteworthy?

Personally, I'm looking forward to how the iHaters will spin it to be a negative.

 

[KPOM]

UPDATE: The report I previously read must have been wrong, because I am now reading on The Verge that the "Nexus S" will get Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Nexus One is not getting ICS. The Nexus S will.

 

[Laird Knox]

Even when the news is bad its spun on here to be good news less market share equals better but if Apple had more marketshare they would be gods WOW. are we that nieve here

Growth is bad news?

 

[James L]

Do you hear the sound? The sound of desperate Fandroids crying in terror? I do.

Are they desperate because they have a larger market share, or because they experienced larger growth?