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While yesterday brought us word that Android had become the number one smartphone OS worldwide, today a report from Nielsen shows Android poised to break out as the number one in the Unites States. In their figures for December 2010, Nielsen reports that Android is tied with BlackBerry and iOS for top dog in the US, but their forecasts for 2011 predict Android will rise above the competition.
In terms of recent acquisitions, Nielsen again reports that Android holds the top spot with 43 percent of new smartphone buyers over the past six months choosing Android. A similar report from NPD Group, Android accounted for 53 percent of smartphone sales in Q4 of 2010.
While the closing numbers for 2010 were strong for Android it looks like just a precursor to what is to come. If you had any doubt that 2011 would be the year of Android it should be quickly vanishing now.
[via Nielsen]
Let’s see if BGR picks this one up.
The walled garden might have lots and lots of fruits, but… it’s kind of limiting. People want the wild fruits.
blackberry is going to fall under 20% as soon as the iPhone 4 is released on verizon
I think Apple may delay the inevitable in the US a bit with the impending release of the iPhone on Verizon. You may see the #s (in the US only) go backwards a bit for the next few months because of this, before returning to the inevitable rule of Android on phones. We’ll see ..
Rise Of The Machines!
@Evo, are you high? iPhone 4 is in no way appealing to someone who uses a BB for work purposes. RIM has their place in the world, and just because you’re an apple fangirl doesn’t mean everyone else is.
Poor poor RIM…they need to pick up their game or else they’ll end up simply as another Palm.
Go ANDROID!! :)
Tied? Seriously?
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A better headline would have been: Blackberry losing market share, iOS holding steady and Android set to dominate.
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That headline was written by someone who only looked at the last point on the graph, not the trend lines leading up to it.
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Then there is that market share of phones acquired in the last six months. Please remember, the phones being bought today REPRESENT THE INSTALLED BASE 12 months from now.
If you notice, the total percentage for Android/Apple/Rim in Oct 2009 was 67%, today it is 82% – that means all other OS’s (mostly Windows) lost 15% of the US market share. iOS will get a bump over the next year because of Verizon, but I think Android will keep pace (if the iPhone 5 is just an incremental improvement over the iPhone 4 then Android will dominate in the second half of the year).
@sucklefish
There are actually a lot of major corpporations, including large financial institutions, that are switching to iPhones. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Apple could supplant BB in the enterprise market, especially as they open it up to other carriers. These days, there aren’t many enterprise features that BB has over the iPhone.
And for the record, I use an htc evo so no fanboy here.
Nielsen is biased towards Apple. I’ve noticed it before.
Android rocks…In coming months, it will further degrade other phones
ATUL
Strange that Apple has remained more or less the same the entire time. What about all those sales of the iPhone4? Needed to be people just upgrading from one iPhone to another. Perhaps the Verizon iPhone will change there luck but it may be more shuffling of the deck. AT&T iPhone users becoming Verizon iPhone users. Android needs to start leveling out soon. There isn’t much market share left to get. Interesting thought is if RIM decided to go with Android on there phones and ad things like BBM. It might actually make them relevant again. Not that I think that will happen just interesting to ponder. Its certainly possible but HIGHLY unlikely.
Wicked trend, that’s clear. Even with the iPhone on Verizon, I doubt the upward trend will slow that much. What’s interesting is how IOS never really grows, just dolphins along. The chart says IOS, not iPhone, so with the boatload of iPads sold, their phone sales don’t look too good when you break it down. On the other hand, when Honeycomb hits, these charts are going to get real interesting. Can’t wait, the walled garden of “1984” is in for a sad wakeup call.
What you guys fail to realize is the impact this has and will have on the future. People scoffed at the release of the G1, now they embrace the G2. Nokia said they wouldn’t even consider Android, now talks are in consideration about using Android. Apple scorned Android, saying that the OS is like a juvenile delinquent. Now, Apple slings lawsuits to stifle the undeniable growth of innovation of the OS.
I hope ppl read posts #14, 15, and 16 and let it marinate in ppls mind.
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Great posts yall 3. Especially the ones about Apple never really growing, but just staying level.
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It means it wasnt that many new customers. It goes along with the notion that everybody who wanted an iPhone already has one. Now, the real stat will be to see if these numbers change once the iPhone 4 gets in Verizon customer’s hands.
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It should and will….but by how much? And for ppl around the net to downplay dual core and specs when it comes to the iPhone and Android, I wonder will the iPhone 5 be dual core and other specs gets added…. and how much will it make a difference since some ppl claim specs dont matter when it comes to the iPhone.
“Android needs to start leveling out soon. There isn’t much market share left to get”
You couldn’t be more wrong. This is barely the first day of a year long race. Smartphones account for about 20% of the total market, less than that world wide. Android is the *only* one poised to aggressively eat up the featurephone market share in the low end where Apple, HP and RIM don’t/won’t play. It is very conceivable that over the next two years Android will grow to greater than 80-90% marketshare.
Mark my words.
Assuming that I can buy a decent Android phone for 100$ without a contract, then yes, Android is set to dominate :).
@konamicode- yes, broadcom has announced a SOC solution that would lead to sub $100 android phones. That was also noted in an interview with the guy who is doing the android front end work, forget his name. So they are aware of the space, and plan to compete in it. We have to remember Google’s interest ISN’T to sell phones, since they don’t. It is to make as many people as possible tie into google services. So you can bet they are going to grease the skids for sub $100 devices, even if that means special versions of the OS for low end phones. I have seen 2.2 running on a Tmo Comet, which is barely even a phone, already.
Android is will win within 24onths. First crApple will fall, then BB, then Motorola. No one left to US companies to force patents on rest of world. Samsung LG HTC and ZTE be new leaders in mobile world with no US control. Go Android!