Topic: Mobile OS

Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races

Summary: Blackberry is still number one, but Android has passed the iPhone iOS for second place in the race to the top of the smartphone operating system hill.

By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols for Networking | January 9, 2011 -- 16:58 GMT (08:58 PST)

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Yes, Apple's iPhone is popular, and yes it looks like Verizon is finally going to release an iPhone, but Android phones have turned out to be even more popular.

In its latest survey of U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending November 2010, comScore reported that while RIM continued to lead among smartphone platforms with 33.5 percent market share, Android charged past the iPhone to take second place. To be exact, Google Android captured the number two spot in November with 26.0 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers. Apple took third with 25.0 percent; followed by Microsoft with 9.0 percent and Palm in the back with 3.9 percent.

What’s more telling, though, is that while the iPhone only grabbed 0.8% more of the market, Android snatched an additional 6.4%. RIM and Microsoft took the lumps with the Blackberry losing 4.1% and Microsoft dropping 1.8%.

Of course, in the bigger scheme of things, no one, except HP/Palm, was hurting that much. 61.5 million people in the U.S., at the end of November 2010, now own a smartphone. That's more than a 10 percent gain from the preceding quarter.

Still, it’s become clear then ever that Android, with its multiple vendors, and despite developer concerns over its multiple platforms, is becoming the hot smartphone operating system. The iPhone, which has its own open-source concerns now about its applications, certainly has its fans, but the smartphone market is clearly moving to Android.

The next question isn’t whether the iPhone will catch up with Android--that seems almost impossible--but when Android will finally climb past RIM’s declining Blackberry.

Topics: Mobile OS, Android, Google, Hardware, iPhone, Mobility, Smartphones

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78 comments

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RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races

though Although is an imitator, but it is also a Young Warriors which own wider coverage than IOS now, I have to admit that it is very powerful, However, I love iPhone betterparticularly this anticipated and upcoming Verizon iPhone. By the way, no matter which one you will buy? don't forget download Aneesoft video converter.

xiaoa
9 January, 2011 18:21

Reply Vote
Another author who simply does not understand . . .

. . . the different between an OS and a device. The correct title should have been, "Android runs down iOS in the SmartOS Races". You are not comparing apples to apples. Android is an OS whereas iPhone is a device. There are something like 30 or more types of Android devices competing against a few different types of iPhones and so it has taken the combined sales of all of those different Android phones to compete against a few different types of iPhones. Is that really an achievement? Whilst Android, through apps, is probably making a decent income for Google, I wonder how effective it is for device manufacturers, given that their share of the market is split 30-ways? If you really want to compare apples with apples, then nominate one single type of Android phone that has sold as many as one single type of iPhone. I bet you can't!

Restricted_access
9 January, 2011 18:23

Reply Vote
- Come on, iOS is ONLY available on iPhone, so it is one and the same.
 
 I understood clearly that Android = all of the phones running Android.
 
 And, it is the collective total that makes a critical mass for developers writing apps.
 
 DonnieBoy
 9 January, 2011 19:09
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @DonnieBoy If that is the case then why are you not counting all iOS devices? Developers want to know the total number of devices capable of running their software, not the smaller phone-only subset. When you count the iPod touch and the ipad then Apple's iOS Market share doubles. -Mart
 
 marthill
 9 January, 2011 22:36
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @marthill,
 
 The reason they are not counting all iOS devices is that this report's purpose is to compare market share of smartphone devices. All reports have some parameters that limit the data to a specific subset. If you don't like the report, compile your own and write your own article. However, the report clearly states "Top Smartphone Platforms".
 
 bmonsterman
 10 January, 2011 07:58
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @DonnieBoy
 
 NO
 
 Critical Mass in marketing terms is quite different, and I concur with DonnieBay
 
 desilvav
 10 January, 2011 09:18
 
 Reply Vote
- RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @ptorning Serious flaws in your reasoning. Let me explain: iOS = iPhone Android OS = HTC, Samsung, Motorola, etc ... The limit of iOS on the iphone is self-imposed by Apple while Google's Android has no such limit, therefore limiting Android to the same number of devices as iOS for comparison is a false analogy.
 
 MisterMiester
 9 January, 2011 20:31
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @MisterMiester
 
 iOS is used on iPhones, iPads, iPods and I also believe on
 Apple tvs. It is an OS, not a device!
 
 Restricted_access
 9 January, 2011 21:05
 
 Reply Vote
 - @ptorning: Why don't you read the title of the article again
 
 See where it says [b]smartphone[/b]? iPads, iPods, and Apple TVs are not smartphones.
 
 NonZealot
 9 January, 2011 21:16
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @Nonzealot
 If you are just comparing smartphones why are you not comparing the iPhone to the Droid or the nexus s or the galaxy s individually?
 
 If you are comparing operating systems you should be comparing all iOS devices to all Android devices (particularly since the Android numbers already include Android tablets like the Dell Streak and Galaxy Tab)
 
 -Mart
 
 marthill
 9 January, 2011 22:43
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @ptorning
 
 "iOS is used on iPhones, iPads, iPods and I also believe on
 Apple tvs. It is an OS, not a device!"
 
 Nice straw man attempt, but you still haven't refuted the fact your argument is a false analogy:
 
 http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/falsean.htm
 
 MisterMiester
 10 January, 2011 05:17
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @NonZealot A more accurate title wold have been "Android runs down iOS in smartphone races" being as how the iPhone is a device and Android is an OS. In other words lets compare smartphone OS to smartphone OS OR device model to device model - although if we are comparing sales of one device vs one device the Android device in question would not be winning the race...
 
 athynz
 10 January, 2011 06:17
 
 Reply Vote
 - logical fallacies
 
 @ MisterMiester
 If you are going to make accusations about logical fallacies, at least try to get them right.
 First, independent of its veracity, this is in no way a straw man argument. a straw man argument starts by the speaker stating the other person's argument in easily refutable terms. At no point did the OP state someone else's argument. At that point, there is no straw man argument. Period
 Nor was there ANY analogy involved here, fallacious or otherwise. I suspect that you need a refresher course in intro logic.
 
 As to the OP's point he is totally correct, the issue is NOT Android v iPhone, it is Android v iOS. Even if, like bmonsterman, you restrict to smartphones (a restriction that is for all practical purposes meaningless) it is STILL Android v iOS. And once iOS phones are available on Verizon, where 84% of Verizon customers, INCLUDING Android owners, said they would switch to an iPhone if it were available on their network, this will become even more apparent.
 It does not matter that "the report clearly states "Top Smartphone Platforms" the entire point of the OP is that the title of WRONG.
 
 DeusXMachina
 10 January, 2011 11:08
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @DeusXMachina Whether the response I gave to ptorning's retort by calling it a straw man, or more likely a red herring I will grant you that, is valid or not the original argument still stands. The comparison is NOT between iOS and Android but between phones running Android and the iPhone. iOS is the ONLY platform available for the iPhone. Apple does not license iOS for any non Apple products. The average person can clearly see that the two are "joined at the hip". Android on the other hand has no such restrictions and can run on a plethora of smartphones from numerous vendors. Android has a clear demarcation between the operating system and the hardware, in this case smartphones. With your argument, or in this case defending ptorning, you're attempting to give Android, a multi-vendor smartphone operating system, the same characteristics as iOS, a single vendor smartphone operating system, by limiting the comparison of the iPhone to only one Android smartphone. By doing so this creates a false comparison or false analogy: "In an analogy, two objects (or events), A and B are shown to be similar. Then it is argued that since A has property P, so also B must have property P. An analogy fails when the two objects, A and B, are different in a way which affects whether they both have property P. <a href="http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/falsean.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><a href="http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/falsean.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><a href="http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/falsean.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/falsean.htm</a></a></a> It's painfully obvious that you need to question you're own reasoning skills before attacking others for a slight error in determining which logic fallacy should be applied.
 
 MisterMiester
 10 January, 2011 20:49
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @DeusXMachina
 
 And to be really picky since you insist on calling this an Android versus iOS platform war then the title of this article should be the following:
 
 "Android runs down [b]smartphones that only run iOS[/b] in the Smartphone Races"
 
 And what's the only smartphone that runs iOS?
 
 MisterMiester
 10 January, 2011 21:16
 
 Reply Vote
- You should RUN to Steve Jobs and give him your business plan!!
 
 @ptorning Your business plan is simple: Apple should release 30 models of the iPhone. That would immediately give Apple 30 times more sales. Hmmm... that doesn't sound quite right...
 
 Get it through your head: iOS is competing with Android. If you decide to go with an iOS smartphone, you choose one of the iPhone models. If you decide to go with an Android smartphone, you choose one of the Android models. More people are choosing Android smartphones than iOS smartphones. Deal with it.
 
 I'm an iPhone 4 owner and I don't take it personally that Android is outselling iPhone. I bought my iPhone because I felt it was the best phone for me, not because I was [b]HOPING AND PRAYING AND PLEADING AND BEGGING[/b] that Apple would win some stupid and irrelevant marketshare race.
 
 NonZealot
 9 January, 2011 21:06
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @NonZealot "I'm an iPhone 4 owner and I don't take it personally that Android is outselling iPhone." I am an Apple user, not a zealot. I simply find the argument to be incorrect. as for your argument about 30 different iPhones, you know it to be absurd. What is really sad about imbeciles like you who haunt these fora is that you (incorrectly) assume that, because someone disagrees with an argument, or even worse, disagrees with you, then they must, therefore, be some form of fanboy or zealot. You are wrong. I am not. I use Windows, Linux and Apple and I enjoy them all. I disagree with parts of the argument, that is all, and I can assure you that none of your brainless bravado has done anything to change my opinion. I accept without equivocation that Android has a huge share of the market. It is a good OS and deserves its success. However, I dispute some aspects of the comparison to iOS.
 
 Restricted_access
 9 January, 2011 21:21
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @NonZealot
 
 It's relevant to stockholders.
 
 Michael Kelly
 10 January, 2011 10:15
 
 Reply Vote
- I wonder what will happen now that the iPhone
 
 will be sold on the nations two largest networks?
 My guess will be that Android sales will drop as there are people I know that want an iPhone, just not at the cost of leaving Verizon.
 
 Now they don't have to.
 
 AllKnowingAllSeeing
 10 January, 2011 06:12
 
 Reply Vote
- RE: Android runs down iPhone in the Smartphone Races
 
 @ptorning I feel it is a fair comparison of smartphone marketshare as the iOS is only available on the Iphone. The keyword however is smartphone. Therefore the ipod touch and the ipad wouldn't count, while the many different devices Android sits on certainly does. If it compared mobile os's then you may have a legitiamte argurment.
 
 striker67
 10 January, 2011 09:07
 
 Reply Vote