Android: RIM's worst nightmare
Summary: The data points on Android market share keep coming and the story is the same: Google's mobile operating system is gaining share at a rapid clip. However, most of those share gains are coming at Research in Motion's expense.
The data points on Android market share keep coming and the story is the same: Google's mobile operating system is gaining share at a rapid clip. However, most of those share gains are coming at Research in Motion's expense. Android is quickly becoming RIM's worst nightmare.
First, Canalys reports that devices running Android had 44 percent of the U.S. smartphone market in the third quarter. Apple also ousted RIM from the top spot with 26 percent market share. NPD's figures show more Android domination---the OS was installed on 44 percent of all smartphones in the third quarter, up 11 percent from the second quarter.
NPD has Apple's iOS rising a point to 23 percent. RIM fell to third from 28 percent to 22 percent.
But here's the money quote from NPD analyst Ross Rubin:
Much of Android’s quarterly share growth came at the expense of RIM, rather than Apple. The HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X, and other new high-end Android devices have been gaining momentum at carriers that traditionally have been strong RIM distributors, and the recent introduction of the BlackBerry Torch has done little to stem the tide.
And graphically speaking here's RIM's situation:
Now if Apple lands at Verizon perhaps the Android onslaught is slowed a bit. But none of that will matter for RIM, which is systematically being crowded out of Verizon.
So now we have the following situation for RIM:
- The Torch is the lead RIM device, but it's only at AT&T;
- RIM would need a dozen new smartphones to even come close to matching the Android tide;
- Android devices are eyeing the enterprise too;
- RIM's Playbook is an unknown commodity at the moment.
It's not totally dire for RIM, but it's unclear what it can do to turn things around. It has already launched its new operating system.
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Talkback
Correction
Not exactly true.
Now RIM has their new OS out, WebOS will be HP's, so they might be one vendor only, but WP7 OS is available to all manufacturers.
If even 25% of smartphone buyers go with that, the remaining 75% to go with Android, that's a pretty hefty chunch away from Android, enough to have people take notice.
[i]Competition[/i] is everybody's worse nightmare, including Android.
There is no evidence that Android will loose share to the others.
Rate of growth
It isn't rocket science. Just determine the slope and extrapolate future growth. It's obviously taking off, well like a rocket.
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare
[b]Blackberry really only has one phone that competes with the flood of Android devices.[/b] Android may have a couple more devices in the wild than Blackberry but Blackberry has quite a few devices - there is the Torch, Bold, Curve, Storm, and the new flip phone with the full querty keyboard the name of which I'm forgetting right now... the only manufacturer that has essentially one model smartphone device is Apple.
athynz. Apple has the mind share and, the best, most stylish phone, and,
And, do not try to minimize the number of Android devices. It is a flood of devices on ALL major carriers.
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare
But for the most part...what incentive do the manufacturers have in pushing WP7 when they now have their own OS and can implement any feature they see useful in WP7. They did this once already with WebOS and the senergy feature. They actually have more incentive to do this than to go back to relying on an OS where they have much less control over their destiny. With Android its on them as to whether the features are there to move their units. And you can't say Google controls it because of the way Android is designed. Everything right down to the core functions of the device is an app and they are all treated equally. So all the OEM's have to do is develop their app to replace the stock functionality and Google is always improving the ability to do this in the API's. For instance lets say people for some reason like the WP7 home screen UI. The OEM simply writes an app to replace the stock home screen/launcher. In fact long before then I expect to see one in the market anyway.
Now maybe you all will start to understand what happens when openness breaks through the noise. Android is basically something that can't be bottled back up outside of introducing a better open platform. In that case Meego may be the only thing capable of stopping it.
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare
I like Larry. He is smart, reports it like it is, no bias.
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare
Until I can click on a phone number with extension or dial in passcode, I'm on blackberry.
Android is remiss in this one BUSINESS NECESSARY feature, available for a decade on blackberry and winmo phones.
When you can dial a PGI audio conference including the passcode with 2 clicks on android, then and only then is android a BUSINESS ready phone.
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare
You are so right. Having Google spyware on the majority of the smartphones in the world represents a nightmare. The phones may be smart, but the purchasers, certainly are not.
Android will also be Microsoft's worst nightmare trying to claw into the
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare
WP7 only works with GSM, so, there will be no WP7 phone on Verizon for a
and grids of icons is the best UI?
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare
Storm and Storm 2 on Verizon. Torch on AT&T. so there are 2 touch screen BB on 2 of the bigger networks.
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare
The Storm is pretty bad as a phone... The Torch, the saving grace with BB6, should be the flagship, it is the newer phone I believe...
But carrier exclusive contracts are just one of the reasons that carriers/manufacturers/etc are not as successful as others. If the iPhone were on multiple carriers, worldwide, You could have expected it to be 4x what it is now in deployments if not more.
RE: Android: RIM's worst nightmare