Apple's iPhone tops US smartphone shipments, but Android devices take 44%
Apple's iPhone was the best-selling smartphone in the third quarter of 2010, taking 26.2 percent of the market, but the wide variety of handsets running Google's Android represented a commanding 43.6 percent.
New data from Canalys released on Monday shows that Apple took the top spot in the U.S. as the best-selling smartphone vendor in the country. Apple's 26.2 percent share edged Research in Motion's 24.2 percent, giving Apple the greatest shipments of any vendor in the U.S., which is the largest smartphone market in the world.
However, Canalys also found that devices running Google's Android mobile operating system represented 43.6 percent of U.S.shipments in the third quarter of 2010. Worldwide, Android grew 1,309 percent from the same period a year ago, from 1.4 million shipments in the third quarter of 2009 to more than 20 million units during the three-month span this year.
"With Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson all delivering large numbers of Android devices, and with focused efforts from many other vendors, such as LG, Huawei and Acer, yielding promising volumes, the platform continues to gather momentum in markets around the world," said Canalys Senior Analyst Pete Cunningham.
"Android has been well received by the market and in some geographies it is becoming a sought-after consumer brand. It has rapidly become the platform to watch, and its growing volumes will help to entice developers, ensuring consumers have access to an increasingly rich and vibrant mobile content and application ecosystem."
The numbers show a total of 9.1 million smartphones running Android from the Open Handset Alliance being shipped in the third quarter of 2010. That was ahead of the estimated 5.5 million iPhones sold in the three-month frame. Research in Motion's BlackBerry came in third in the mobile operating system race, shipping an estimated 5.1 million, followed by Microsoft with 600,000.
Recent studies have repeatedly shown that Android-based smartphone shipments have eclipsed Apple's iPhone in 2010. Some have shown that Android's growth was not slowed by the launch of the iPhone 4 this summer.
Apple and Android have publicly disputed one another over new device activation numbers throughout 2010. But on last month, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs admitted that Android outsold the iPhone in the June quarter, citing numbers from Gartner which he said he believes are "pretty accurate."
Jobs said during his company's quarterly earnings call that in the June quarter, many customers were waiting to buy the iPhone 4. He said his company is waiting to find out what happened in the September quarter, but it's hard to track because there is no "solid data" on how many Android devices are shipped each quarter.
Apple just had its best quarter ever, selling a record 14.1 million iPhones. That helped the company achieve 70 percent growth in profits to $4.31 billion.
New data from Canalys released on Monday shows that Apple took the top spot in the U.S. as the best-selling smartphone vendor in the country. Apple's 26.2 percent share edged Research in Motion's 24.2 percent, giving Apple the greatest shipments of any vendor in the U.S., which is the largest smartphone market in the world.
However, Canalys also found that devices running Google's Android mobile operating system represented 43.6 percent of U.S.shipments in the third quarter of 2010. Worldwide, Android grew 1,309 percent from the same period a year ago, from 1.4 million shipments in the third quarter of 2009 to more than 20 million units during the three-month span this year.
"With Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson all delivering large numbers of Android devices, and with focused efforts from many other vendors, such as LG, Huawei and Acer, yielding promising volumes, the platform continues to gather momentum in markets around the world," said Canalys Senior Analyst Pete Cunningham.
"Android has been well received by the market and in some geographies it is becoming a sought-after consumer brand. It has rapidly become the platform to watch, and its growing volumes will help to entice developers, ensuring consumers have access to an increasingly rich and vibrant mobile content and application ecosystem."
The numbers show a total of 9.1 million smartphones running Android from the Open Handset Alliance being shipped in the third quarter of 2010. That was ahead of the estimated 5.5 million iPhones sold in the three-month frame. Research in Motion's BlackBerry came in third in the mobile operating system race, shipping an estimated 5.1 million, followed by Microsoft with 600,000.
Recent studies have repeatedly shown that Android-based smartphone shipments have eclipsed Apple's iPhone in 2010. Some have shown that Android's growth was not slowed by the launch of the iPhone 4 this summer.
Apple and Android have publicly disputed one another over new device activation numbers throughout 2010. But on last month, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs admitted that Android outsold the iPhone in the June quarter, citing numbers from Gartner which he said he believes are "pretty accurate."
Jobs said during his company's quarterly earnings call that in the June quarter, many customers were waiting to buy the iPhone 4. He said his company is waiting to find out what happened in the September quarter, but it's hard to track because there is no "solid data" on how many Android devices are shipped each quarter.
Apple just had its best quarter ever, selling a record 14.1 million iPhones. That helped the company achieve 70 percent growth in profits to $4.31 billion.
Comments
In short, Apple is on its game like never before, and Android is a hollow Windows imitator. I'm not worried about Apple's chances.
1. In the USA, they want to use Verizon instead of AT&T
2. They can't afford an iPhone and, generally speaking, have a very small amount of disposable income.
Gads... I hope that bloody at&t exclusive ends soon. Apple's desire for a secure return with at&t has ceded so much ground to Android, it's like the desktop wars all over again with Android playing the part of Windows. Fulfill the pent-up demand for the iPhone, Apple!
It's radically different from the desktop wars. Apple never had the kind of marketshare with the Mac that it has with the iPhone, and Apple never had the kind of financial strength that it has now. Plus, Android is a hollow imitator of the Windows business model. Google is depending on (and ceding power to) their OEM partners much more heavily than MS ever did, which is going to lead to fragmentation and degradation of the Android brand.
So it still took the collective forces of gazillion different models of Android to outsell the 3GS and 4.. I'd like to see the OHA broken up to the individual manufacturers and see how they're doing.
It won't be a pretty picture.
It will be interesting to see how well iPhones sell once they are on more than one carrier in the U.S. market.
The only impact Android as an OS has on Apple is the fact that as that platform becomes more prevelant, if developers see a bigger opportunity, they might develop apps for Android instead of Apple iOS, especially if they're a smaller developer who doesn't have the resources to do both.
But on the up side, having real competition will keep Apple on its toes to continually make the products better. I think that is a good thing. Apple tends to be a bit arrogant and insular. Users can't change that, but competition can. In fact, if Apple keeps breaking sales records, it's unlikely that their products will get substantially better. It's only if they start to fail that they will change.
Gads... I hope that bloody at&t exclusive ends soon. Apple's desire for a secure return with at&t has ceded so much ground to Android, it's like the desktop wars all over again with Android playing the part of Windows. Fulfill the pent-up demand for the iPhone, Apple!
How much will that account for? Most sales are outside the US, there are a fair number that would have jumped from the other three carriers to AT&T for the iPhone already, and there are some that won?t go with the iPhone no matter what carrier they are on because of some irrational reason.
To me, it seems like those that are waiting for the iPhone to be on T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon are fairly low for the longterm sales of the device worldwide. I?m sure there will be a spike next year when the carrier(s) is announced, but I still expect Android-based handsets to outsell iOS-based handsets. There are just way too many of them on the market taking way too many price points. The only surprising thing to me is why Android isn?t much farther ahead at this point.
Apple's iPhone was the best-selling smartphone in the third quarter of 2010, taking 26.2 percent of the market, but the wide variety of handsets running Google's Android represented a commanding 43.6 percent.
If this trend continues, it is likely that many devs will switch from iOS to Android. It seems that Android will swamp iOS soon.
Android may be doing well now, but I don't think it has legs. That platform is going to suffer from fragmentation and related entropy much more so than Windows has in the computer world due to the looser standards imposed by Google.
Which standards are you talking about?
What standards did M$ have in the computer world that are tighter than Google's looser standards?
What standards?
Android continues to do well in the US ONLY because of the AT&T exclusive deal, and because the other carriers are giving Android devices away for free! (Just as they are with RIM devices.) The problem in the US is that the commodity company (the carriers), are giving away the added value product (smartphones) for free thus driving the entire market to commodity status, while Apple continues to sweep up the majority of the profit.
If this trend continues, it is likely that many devs will switch from iOS to Android. It seems that Android will swamp iOS soon.
Ah, was wondering when you'd come onto this thread. It's laid up nicely for you. Go nuts!
I believe that people who buy Android phones instead of iPhones overwhelmingly do so for only two reasons:
1. In the USA, they want to use Verizon instead of AT&T
2. They can't afford an iPhone and, generally speaking, have a very small amount of disposable income.
Well that's a very stupid generalization you made. All the high-end Android devices sell for the same contract price as the iPhone 4 and with more or less the exact same plan prices too.
I believe that people who buy Android phones instead of iPhones overwhelmingly do so for only two reasons:
1. In the USA, they want to use Verizon instead of AT&T
2. They can't afford an iPhone and, generally speaking, have a very small amount of disposable income.
1. In the US, Android phones are available on every major carrier.
2. The best-selling Android phones cost $200 with contract, the exact same price as the iPhone.
I don't think either of these reasons holds much water.
Instead, I think that the majority of people people buy Android phones because they like them the best, all things considered.
Which standards are you talking about?
What standards did M$ have in the computer world that are tighter than Google's looser standards?
What standards?
Windows had less fragmentation. You had mainly Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, XP, Vista, 7.
So that's about 7 versions over, what, 2 decades? How many Android versions do we have in the space of a few years?
1. In the US, Android phones are available on every major carrier.
2. The best-selling Android phones cost $200 with contract, the exact same price as the iPhone.
I don't think either of these reasons holds much water.
Instead, I think that the majority of people people buy Android phones because they like them the best, all things considered.
*Grabs popcorn, settles into comfy chair* This is going to be good...!
BTW, anotherperson said
1. In the USA, they want to use Verizon instead of AT&T
You said:
1. In the US, Android phones are available on every major carrier.
Which is precisely the point anotherperson was making.
iPhone numbers could be limited because it is only available on AT&T, whereas Android is everywhere.
Therefore, availability of iPhone is limited.
In any case at the end of the day Apple can't make enough iPhone 4. That's the problem, not whether people want to buy it.
Definitely from a global perspective this applies. In the US, maybe it's different, but 3 week shipping times for the online Apple Store were quoted for many months.