Android giving away the most software, Apple still selling the most smartphones in US

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
The Android software platform led by Google is now installed on 39 percent of US consumer smartphones, but Apple remains the largest smartphone manufacturer with the iPhone (at 28 percent) and RIM is second largest with Blackberry (20 percent).



The results, tabulated for June 2011 by Nielsen, show widespread use of Android by HTC, Motorola, Samsung and other smartphone makers, whose combined use of Android makes it the largest smartphone platform in the US.



Adding in Apple's other mobile devices, including the iPad and iPod touch, continues to leave iOS as the largest mobile platform in the country and globally, particularly given the poor showing for Android-based tablets and other non-smartphone devices compatible to Apple's iPod touch.



Google's free-to-implement Android platform has largely replaced the use of other smartphone platforms based on Linux, Java and Flash, which historically have served as the mainstream platform for mobile devices prior to iPhone.



Even so, despite being the largest smartphone platform, Android, like Sun's Java ME before it, has failed to attract the same kind of attention from developers and buyers as Apple has cultivated for iOS though its App Store, instead developing a reputation for Android as a platform where there is little money to be made because nobody wants to pay for commercial Android software.







The Also Rans



Microsoft's share of smartphones in the US has plummeted from a share once similar to Apple's current slice to a narrow 9 percent, split between HTC, Samsung and other Windows Phone 7 licensees. Adding HTC's Android business with its WP7 market results in giving that manufacture a position roughly tied with RIM as the second place US smartphone maker, at 20 percent of all devices sold in the country.



Motorola and Samsung both make up 10 to 11 percent of US smartphone sales, and when combined with all other Android and WP7 licensees apart from HTC, amount to a share about equal with Apple's iPhone sales.



Apple's ability to continue to command a leading share of the US market four years after the launch of iPhone is difficult to fathom given the company's late entry into what was assumed to be a crowded, mature, and highly competitive market. Apple is also limited to the two major carriers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, preventing iPhone from being able to reach a significant portion of US market.



Other companies with a much longer history in the mobile business have failed to put even a dent into the US smartphone market, including Nokia's tiny 2 percent share with its Symbian based phones (long a global leader outside the US), and HP's 2 percent share from its acquired Palm WebOS business.



Despite its distant manufacturing lead in the US, Apple's iPhone fortunes are largely tied to international sales, where iPhone growth has occurred even faster, leaving US sales to amount to just 30 percent of the company's smartphone sales.





Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    umairumair Posts: 16member
    hey guys iphone5 has been leaked on 9to5mac ,check it out http://9to5mac.com/2011/07/28/have-w...-the-iphone-5/



    im not DUMB me too thinks, it's Fake OR Real at the same time
  • Reply 2 of 20
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Just to make sure it's not overlooked?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Adding in Apple's other mobile devices, including the iPad and iPod touch, continues to leave iOS as the largest mobile platform in the country and globally...





    PS: What happened to the mass exodus of iPhone users from AT&T to Verizon that was suppose to happen?
  • Reply 3 of 20
    mbarriaultmbarriault Posts: 237member
    Oddly, every other article I read left out the "smartphone" OS share, just termed it iOS, yet the study didn't include iPad or iPod touch.
  • Reply 4 of 20
    What exactly does Nielson's breakdown of market share by manufacturer have to do with your speculation on the profitability of Android apps? I wouldn't be surprised if DED worked for Fox News.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    PS: What happened to the mass exodus of iPhone users from AT&T to Verizon that was suppose to happen?



    Guessing the $49 3GS and Verizon's new and not-so-improved data plans. It went from AT&T is raping us and we need competition to AT&T and Verzon must be colluding. I'm in the "It costs what it costs" camp.
  • Reply 6 of 20
    cloudgazercloudgazer Posts: 2,161member
    Both Android & Apple are up 1% on Nielsen's previous numbers (period ending May), with RIM and MS losing 1% each.
  • Reply 7 of 20
    lamewinglamewing Posts: 742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ChristophB View Post


    Guessing the $49 3GS and Verizon's new and not-so-improved data plans. It went from AT&T is raping us and we need competition to AT&T and Verzon must be colluding. I'm in the "It costs what it costs" camp.



    It costs what is costs is right. There is little to be done against these large companies. Just choose your battles as best you can. My AT&T contract ends 8/28/11 and I am switching my iPhone 3GS to the GoPhone plan. In fact I already set it up a few days ago to test it out. I just used a Windows Phone IMEI when activating the SIM. It is your choice to add data or not and I chose not to. I will give up MMS and only use wifi from September forward as I am tired of paying AT&T $30.00 a month for a luxury I really don't need. I am not worried about my minutes either, as I can use my $3.00/month Skype number when at home using wifi.



  • Reply 8 of 20
    grmacgrmac Posts: 67member
    Wouldn't it be a trickle, unless all the unsatisfied customers bought their ATTiPhones on the same day?
  • Reply 9 of 20
    guch20guch20 Posts: 173member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by UMAIR View Post


    hey guys iphone5 has been leaked on 9to5mac ,check it out http://9to5mac.com/2011/07/28/have-w...-the-iphone-5/



    im not DUMB me too thinks, it's Fake OR Real at the same time



    Hmmm...that looks just right enough to be real...
  • Reply 10 of 20
    jexusjexus Posts: 373member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    PS: What happened to the mass exodus of iPhone users from AT&T to Verizon that was suppose to happen?



    We already went over this....



    $325 ETF + $199 Iphone 4 new 2 year contract.



    That is quite a lot for any one person to swallow.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    But when you compare the number of different Android phones available to how many different iOS phones... Over 100 vs iPhone. Yet they are only just in front.
  • Reply 12 of 20
    michael scripmichael scrip Posts: 1,916member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post




    PS: What happened to the mass exodus of iPhone users from AT&T to Verizon that was suppose to happen?



    High ETF and a new hardware purchase might have kept people from switching. Plus family plans and other reasons.



    Last quarter Verizon sold 2.3 million iPhones to AT&T's 3.6 million.



    Either way... Apple still sold a ton of phones in the US (a phone that was almost a year old by that point too)



    I don't think Apple's plan was to get every AT&T iPhone user to switch to Verizon.



    In other countries... the iPhone went from one carrier to up to 5 carriers. Apple adding Verizon is just par for the course.
  • Reply 13 of 20
    bartfatbartfat Posts: 434member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by guch20 View Post


    Hmmm...that looks just right enough to be real...



    Looks photoshopped, I'd say. The home screen is the same as the iPad's home screen. Just with different icons.
  • Reply 14 of 20
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jexus View Post


    We already went over this....



    $325 ETF + $199 Iphone 4 new 2 year contract.



    That is quite a lot for any one person to swallow.



    In other words, the Verizon camp shot it's mouth off before doing much quantitative analysis, and now are rewriting history by looking at the numbers and explaining away the reason the mass exodus from AT&T never materialized.



    It's VERIZON. They aren't going to win the Smartphone Telco race in the US.
  • Reply 15 of 20
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jexus View Post


    We already went over this....



    $325 ETF + $199 Iphone 4 new 2 year contract.



    That is quite a lot for any one person to swallow.



    Initial 3GS buyers are way out of contract by now.
  • Reply 16 of 20
    I'm Also Waiting For Iphone 5
  • Reply 17 of 20
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Hah, I don't think I've ever even seen someone using a Windows Phone.
  • Reply 18 of 20
    linkgx1linkgx1 Posts: 742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aquatic View Post


    Hah, I don't think I've ever even seen someone using a Windows Phone.



    Come to think of it, that's true. I want one soooo badly, but it came to the market too late (or early depending on how ya look at it). I also think the WP7 commercials were counterproductive.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    You can't compare them imo. Because Android is just an OS, put on many different phone brands (HTC, Samsung....), but Apple has it's own device and OS.
  • Reply 20 of 20
    The issue is that most online trade-in programs will alter the payout amount after you have sent in your phone without giving you a choice. At www.smartphonecashin.com if you disagree with the payout amount, they will send you your phone back at no cost to you if prefer it.
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