iOS, Android increase smartphone market share while all others lose ground

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014


The battle for smartphone operating system supremacy is quickly becoming a two-horse race, as the latest data from comScore shows that only Apple and Google were able to grow their market share in the U.S. through January.



The research firm's latest U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share report for January 2012 was issued this week, revealing that Apple's iOS gained 1.4 percent market share between October of 2011 and January of 2012. That put Apple in second place, behind Google's Android which grew its U.S. market share 2.3 percentage points in the same period.



Android, which is available on all domestic carriers with a wide range of handsets from multiple manufacturers, controls 48.5 percent of the market. Apple's lineup of three iPhone models put it in second place with 29.5 percent of the market.



In third was Research in Motion, which saw its market share drop 2 points to 15.2 percent. Microsoft also lost more ground, dropping 1 point to 4.4 percent and fourth place.



Rounding out the top five was Nokia's Symbian platform, which lost a tenth of a point. The Finnish handset maker accounted for 1.5 percent of total U.S. smartphone subscribers ages 13 and up in the three-month period ending in January.



The number of U.S. smartphone subscribers topped 100 million in January, up 13 percent since October. There are now 101.3 million smartphone subscribers in America, comScore said.











In terms of total hardware sales, with combined smartphone and "feature" phone sales, Samsung was the leader, accounting for 25.4 percent of all devices in use in the three-month period. Apple, which only makes smartphones, represented 12.8 percent of the market, an increase of 2 points from the October quarter.



Between Samsung and Apple are second-place LG, with 19.7 percent of the U.S. market, and Motorola, taking 13.2 percent. All of the top three saw their market share slip in January 2012, while Apple was the only company in the top five to gain ground.



comScore's study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers. It also found that 74.6 percent of mobile subscribers use text messaging on their device, while 48.6 percent have downloaded applications, and 48.5 percent use a browser. Another 35.7 percent accessed a social networking site or blog, 31.8 percent played games, and 24.5 percent listened to music.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    bullheadbullhead Posts: 493member
    so nice to watch Microsoft continue to lose market share. How much shareholder value are they throwing away on their failed phone platform? How long can it last?
  • Reply 2 of 27
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bullhead View Post


    so nice to watch Microsoft continue to lose market share. How much shareholder value are they throwing away on their failed phone platform? How long can it last?



    Please don't count them out yet.
  • Reply 3 of 27
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bullhead View Post


    so nice to watch Microsoft continue to lose market share. How much shareholder value are they throwing away on their failed phone platform? How long can it last?



    By the time Ballmer "ges it right", will anyone care? There's a smart phone feeding frenzy going on and monkey boy is still trying to get his worm on the hook.
  • Reply 4 of 27
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    I already care!



    I never expect to own a Windows phone, and Metro cannot touch the full experience and usability of my iPhone, but Metro is at least genuinely new, interesting, and even visually appealing. And it’s still very young.



    It wouldn’t shock me to see everyone, Apple included, using more Star-Trek-style flat colors and less shading in the next decade. (Kind of the logical trend from glass/aqua to what we have now and beyond. And Microsoft got there first! As a major OS at least—the general visual style has been done before. But beyond the look, a lot of the interaction in Metro really feels new and different; I can appreciate that even if I prefer iOS.)



    The success of Android (an intentional BlackBerry clone that shifted to be an intentional iPhone clone) over Metro is a shame—it takes real choice out of the market. Metro is certainly a response to Apple and wouldn’t have happened without the iPhone. But it’s a response, not a clone attempt! I give credit for that. And Microsoft seems to be messing it up already... trying to shoehorn desktop Windows and Metro together.



    But there’s time—there’s still a chance of some partial success for Microsoft here. And this gamble, in the long run, could be THE most important thing to throw their shareholders’ money at! They need to cling less to old models, not more.
  • Reply 5 of 27
    mac.worldmac.world Posts: 340member
    watching RIM crumble like a train wreck in slow motion. And i can not look away.



    M$ will remain entrenched and will be the solid 3rd place OS. We are guaranteed to see a halo effect, once pc's and tablets start using win8/metro. I will be downloading the beta this weekend.
  • Reply 6 of 27
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bullhead View Post


    so nice to watch Microsoft continue to lose market share. How much shareholder value are they throwing away on their failed phone platform? How long can it last?



    They need an honest to goodness push for Windows Phone 7 to make it worth using. I support Windows Phone 7 and wish it were as fleshed out as iOS.



    When Android comes crashing down, there HAS to be something to fill the void, and there's no better mobile OS to do it than Windows Phone 7.



    ?



    Because everyone who buys WebOS is a bumbling, incompetent fool, it seems, and they wind up either going bankrupt or nearly destroying their computer division.
  • Reply 7 of 27
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The battle for smartphone operating system supremacy is quickly becoming a two-horse race, as the latest data from comScore shows that only Apple and Google were able to grow their market share in the U.S. through January. ...



    You know, constantly publishing articles like this, that point to reports like this, but not ever talking about the methodology used in making the report is really a complete waste of time (if the goal is to inform anyone of anything).



    Some of these market share articles are based on advertising views, some are based on counting browser access, some are based on "sales" (channel and otherwise) and almost all of them use different math, different preconditions or assumptions etc.



    This is why we get an article one week that says "Android rules!" and one the next that says their market share is falling. What's the point really? How hard would it be to either not publish them at all or make some rules for AppleInsider's writers to use when reporting on this stuff?



    This whole article could be boiled down to "ComScore says X." \



    How about giving us the tools to decide whether we want to believe what ComScore says instead of just parroting their report?
  • Reply 8 of 27
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    You know, constantly publishing articles like this, that point to reports like this, but not ever talking about the methodology used in making the report is really a complete waste of time (if the goal is to inform anyone of anything).



    Some of these market share articles are based on advertising views, some are based on counting browser access, some are based on "sales" (channel and otherwise) and almost all of them use different math, different preconditions or assumptions etc.



    This is why we get an article one week that says "Android rules!" and one the next that says their market share is falling. What's the point really? How hard would it be to either not publish them at all or make some rules for AppleInsider's writers to use when reporting on this stuff?



    This whole article could be boiled down to "ComScore says X." \



    How about giving us the tools to decide whether we want to believe what ComScore says instead of just parroting their report?



    <<comScore's study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers.>>



    I generally agree with you but at least this is a little more accurate in that it's a true cross sample. Most of these crap stories are based on ad agencies which inherently lean one way or another.
  • Reply 9 of 27
    mikeb85mikeb85 Posts: 506member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    I already care!



    I never expect to own a Windows phone, and Metro cannot touch the full experience and usability of my iPhone, but Metro is at least genuinely new, interesting, and even visually appealing. And it?s still very young.



    It wouldn?t shock me to see everyone, Apple included, using more Star-Trek-style flat colors and less shading in the next decade. (Kind of the logical trend from glass/aqua to what we have now and beyond. And Microsoft got there first! As a major OS at least?the general visual style has been done before. But beyond the look, a lot of the interaction in Metro really feels new and different; I can appreciate that even if I prefer iOS.)



    The success of Android (an intentional BlackBerry clone that shifted to be an intentional iPhone clone) over Metro is a shame?it takes real choice out of the market. Metro is certainly a response to Apple and wouldn?t have happened without the iPhone. But it?s not a response, not a clone attempt! I give credit for that. And Microsoft seems to be messing it up already... trying to shoehorn desktop Windows and Metro together.



    But there?s time?there?s still a chance of some partial success for Microsoft here. And this gamble, in the long run, could be THE most important thing to throw their shareholders? money at! They need to cling less to old models, not more.



    Use Android for a week and you`ll know that it feels and operates very different from iOS. Samsung and LG copy iOS`s visual style, but devices from HTC, Lenovo, and even stock 4.0 are all quite different (from iOS and each other).



    Microsoft`s metro is very nice visually, but Microsoft has been slow to progress the technical capabilities of the OS, and it still feels very much like a work in progress... The live tiles are nice and show great potential, and I would be interested in trying out a WP8 device when they launch, especially if there`s a significant amount of portability between Windows 8 and WP8, but as of right now, it`s just not up to par with iOS or Android.
  • Reply 10 of 27
    nofear1aznofear1az Posts: 209member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    I already care!



    It wouldn?t shock me to see everyone, Apple included, using more Star-Trek-style flat colors and less shading in the next decade. (Kind of the logical trend from glass/aqua to what we have now and beyond. And Microsoft got there first! As a major OS at least?the general visual style has been done before. But beyond the look, a lot of the interaction in Metro really feels new and different; I can appreciate that even if I prefer iOS.)



    Metro is living 1980 nostalgia all over again. Welcome back to flat 16 colors in full EGA mode.
  • Reply 11 of 27
    isaidsoisaidso Posts: 750member
    I'm so tired of articles like this.

    Are you talking about "telephones"? or are you talking about the number of copies of operating systems that are sold (and all devices that go along with each copy of those operating systems)

    How many device running iOS have been sold (and what is the cash total attached to that number?

    How many device running Android have been sold (and what is the cash total attached to that number?



    That's the question. That is what matters. Nobody ever lays it out like this, even though this is the crux of the question. This is all that matters.

    Maybe Android is ahead (total number of copies), but the article above does not address that question, even though it pretends it does.
  • Reply 12 of 27
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nofear1az View Post


    Metro is living 1980 nostalgia all over again. Welcome back to flat 16 colors in full EGA mode.



    Yup.



    Once again the big loser in the share shakedown is MS. And they don't even have any cachet or "premium experience" reputation that would justify such a low share.



    Once again: BALLMER. He should have been handed his pink-slip years ago.
  • Reply 13 of 27
    michael scripmichael scrip Posts: 1,916member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by isaidso View Post


    I'm so tired of articles like this.

    Are you talking about "telephones"? or are you talking about the number of copies of operating systems that are sold (and all devices that go along with each copy of those operating systems)

    How many device running iOS have been sold (and what is the cash total attached to that number?

    How many device running Android have been sold (and what is the cash total attached to that number?



    That's the question. That is what matters. Nobody ever lays it out like this, even though this is the crux of the question. This is all that matters.

    Maybe Android is ahead (total number of copies), but the article above does not address that question, even though it pretends it does.



    It's been like this for a while. There is no standard way of measuring this stuff. There are too many different factors or ways to look at it. But the bottom line is this:



    Google has their OS on more phones.... and Apple makes more money.



    Everybody is doing well, though. Google chose to go down the road of giving its OS away for free to any OEM who wants it... and Google collects ad revenue. (Google is an advertising company, after all)



    Apple is, and has always been, a hardware company... and they sell tons of units.
  • Reply 14 of 27
    hellacoolhellacool Posts: 759member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Michael Scrip View Post


    It's been like this for a while. There is no standard way of measuring this stuff. There are too many different factors or ways to look at it. But the bottom line is this:



    Google has their OS on more phones.... and Apple makes more money.



    Everybody is doing well, though. Google chose to go down the road of giving its OS away for free to any OEM who wants it... and Google collects ad revenue. (Google is an advertising company, after all)



    Apple is, and has always been, a hardware company... and they sell tons of units.



    This. Except on this forum, if you are not number 1 you are zero. Though Apple is racking in more cash than anyone, Google is racking in tons of cash as well, not bad for a company that sells nothing.
  • Reply 15 of 27
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hellacool View Post


    This. Except on this forum, if you are not number 1 you are zero. Though Apple is racking in more cash than anyone, Google is racking in tons of cash as well, not bad for a company that sells nothing.



    Google is racking in tons of cash from the iOS platform. I think they are a long way off from even breaking even from their Android investments sans the Motorola buyout.



    As for Google selling nothing, they have about 8 billion products on the market.
  • Reply 16 of 27
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bullhead View Post


    so nice to watch Microsoft continue to lose market share. How much shareholder value are they throwing away on their failed phone platform? How long can it last?



    While I think Android will stay on top in terms of number of units, I think in the end the major money makers will be Apple and Microsoft. Heck, Microsoft gets $$ from each android device sold, Apple is beating their door down too.



    For everyone else that has zero standards for wanting a consistent, smooth, polished experience there is always the bottom-of-the-barrel Android iPhone/iPad clone for ya.
  • Reply 17 of 27
    michael scripmichael scrip Posts: 1,916member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hellacool View Post


    This. Except on this forum, if you are not number 1 you are zero. Though Apple is racking in more cash than anyone, Google is racking in tons of cash as well, not bad for a company that sells nothing.



    So... on Apple forums... Apple is #1 because of cash.



    And on Android forums... Google is #1 because of the number of Android phones out there.



    I'm glad I love all tech sites... non-partisan
  • Reply 18 of 27
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The research firm's latest U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share report for January 2012 was issued this week, revealing that Apple's iOS gained 1.4 percent market share between October of 2011 and January of 2012. That put Apple in second place, behind Google's Android which grew its U.S. market share 2.3 percentage points in the same period.







    If it is seen as a "two horse race", then Apple can be seen to be losing.
  • Reply 19 of 27
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by I am a Zither Zather Zuzz View Post


    If it is seen as a "two horse race", then Apple can be seen to be losing.



    Apple market share isn't the same as Android market share.



    In fact, Apple is actually winning all the important battles. Open your eyes.
  • Reply 20 of 27
    michael scripmichael scrip Posts: 1,916member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Apple market share isn't the same as Android market share.



    In fact, Apple is actually winning all the important battles. Open your eyes.



    Winning... losing... who gives a shit



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWeVbKwrdGs
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