By 
In case you questioned the numerous sets of data from earlier in the month asserting Android’s lead as top dog smartphone OS, comScore wants to further confirm the facts. Now, to be clear, comScore’s data still finds RIM and their BlackBerry brand as the number one smartphone platform in the US with a 31.6 percent market share, but for the first time their figures show Google’s Android surpassing Apple’s iOS for second place. As of December 2010, Android held a 28.7 percent share compared to iOS’s 25 percent.
There are some other interesting tidbits on smartphone usage in the report, so be sure to check it out at the source link below.
[via comScore]
This is about the total user base, so yeah I’m not surprised RIM is still leading for now. Android will overtake them in the next quarter anyway.
Add one more later today. The wife s iphone died this morning and I am getting an android after work to replace it. She us tired of living in TWAT-J or The World According To Jobs.
Bib, that’s a fairly convoluted acronym.
That acronym describes the iPhone’s biggest problem. Spot on if you ask me.
apple will more than likely surpass android again when the verizon iphone drops. but who really cares?
Investors care… that is the only purpose of these reports; but they sure do a good job of fueling fanboy flame wars!
im really feeling like apple will not pass android…ITS EVERYWHERE!!
iOS might pass Android when the VZ iPhone drops but that lead, however small it may be will disappear once phones like Bionic, Atrix 4G and HTC Pyramid drop. iPhone 5 wont be a saving grace either since the majority of buyers will be 4 users upgrading (i.e. shelling our for the full price).
@ed
Everyone involved with this market should care. Competition is fierce and there’s little room for error. How many companies are out there that used to be “the thing” and now are squeeking by or are gone. Remember when Palm Pilot’s and Palm Treo’s ruled the day? Everyone loved Blackberry and now, even though they are still very much present, are more or less frowned upon by lots of their customers. Bad trends continue if you don’t innovate and keep bringing something to the market that people want. Companies don’t want losses in marketshare, investors don’t, and you as a consumer shouldn’t want to see the products you like start to fade in sales. Companies can become yesterday’s news very quickly.
I agree with AGx. Intially, as the Verizon iPhone hysteria settles, there may be a change in the market share. There is no arguing, however, with the rate of growth for Android and it does not show signs of slowing down. In the end, Android will stay on top.
Wow….fandroids are actually crowing about the fact that it takes over 100 different phones to barely outsell 1…..how pathetic
I for one am greatful for Apple and Blackberry…for it is the strong competition between them and Team Android that keeps the designers on their toes. Lack of competition leads to lacking inovation and no sense of urgancy to get the next product to the market, leaving all of us consumers, regardless of platform, waiting, wanting, and frustrated
The iPhone still has better apps and factory support with no fragmentation. Being better is more important than being in the lead. Also there is a lot of garbage among android devices in addition to utterly dreadful quality control.
Apple commands 51% of ALL smartphone profits…..I think given a choice, investors care more about that than marketshare
@ SIGINT Keep telling yourself that same old BS Jobs has been spewing if it helps you sleep at night. By this time next year Android will be so far ahead of IOS it wont even be funny. Now go back to macrumors and argue over which carrier is better AT&T or Verizon with the rest of the retarded isheep.
I don’t think Android will take a big hit because for the first time in the US, iPhone will compete against iPhone. That’s the single biggest reason why no individual Android phone has outsold the iPhone, they compete against each other as much as they do against Apple, Rim, Windows, and the like. People that buy Androids buy them for totally different reasons than iPhones, for the most part. Can’t see that changing just because another carrier picks up IOS. It’s already proven world wide.
@Sigint
Apple does have more mature apps but that advantage is disappearing. Also, you can get apps on Android for free where you have to pay for them on iTunes. Speaking of iTunes, it’s outdated and most of the people I know that have iPhones look at iTunes as garbage. Android’s ecosystem is cloud based and it works great. Getting new apps, music, and updates is slave to connecting to a PC…this will end and you’ll have Android to thank for it. You’ll see Apple move in this direction…look at the purchase of Siri, it’s cloud based functionality is the same as how Google/Android works now. iPhone is inferior in respects to it has weak multitasking, no widgets, iTunes, weak notification system and you can’t customize your desktop to try new things. If you jailbreak your iPhone, it becomes a much better device…pretty much the functionality Android has inherently. There are some “garbage” Android phones or really just lower end, but not everyone desires or needs the best specs. You can get a powerful OS in the hands of people that have basic needs and it still performs well at those. You’re entitled to your opinion and I’m not trying to say you have to think a certain way, but the facts are the facts are the facts. What it comes down to is what’s best for you. Peace.
@DroidDoesn’t
This is strictly looking in terms of OS sales. You’re right in the jist of your argument (or put down..hehe) is one company competing against many. But it’s still one smartphone OS vs another OS. Android was concieved not just as a mobile OS…Google has adopted it and focused it in that direction. Android, as I see it, will be ported to other things…cameras, appliances, auto dashboards, etc.. It will take the place of Java applications that are so readily used today. Apple has a good thing going..no doubt. But, competition will only make Apple better and better for you and vice versa for us Android users. I appreciate what Apple has done, but I would also appreciate what Android will do for Apple and you as a consumer. Life is good these days and it will only get better for all of us. Viva la Android!
@DroidDoesn’t: The iphone is now 11 different skus, that means 11 phones, not one. If same OEM and same OS = same phone, then there are only 5 Android phones for sell in the US.
*sale
@DroidDoesnt
The real world only cares about how popular a thing is. They do not care how much profit said company makes. If you are an investor with stakes in a company, sure you would care. You brainwashed Apple apologists should stop, drop to the floor, roll into a fetal position and take your beatdown. You had it coming. There’s is nothing you can do. Numbers matter.. Prepare to be marginalized.
I just get tired of Apple fanbois bleating the same old talking points. How about you “Think Different” and bring something original to the debate instead of being a parrot to what Jobs tell you?
My droid army is unlike any other. So be it, I have it in my power to wipe all of you out!
This is the equivalent of 100 NBA players ganging up on Michael Jordan and then boasting about the fact that they barely beat him by three points…like I said, pathetic
@DroidDoesnt
You can argue that it took over 1,000 different PC types to overtake Apple in the 80s… and you can call that pathetic too, but it doesn’t change the fact that today Apple has less than 10% of the PC market. The mass market will choose open and customizable over confined and restricted every day of the week.
@DroidDoesnt
If Google were only to made one phone like Nexus S2. I am pretty sure it could sale more than iPhone.
@ Scott:
What u fandroids don’t realize is that these types of blogs only prove the strength of iOS. The fact that the iPhone can withstand a barrage of 100 different phones from all 4 networks (5 if u count Metro PCS) with Verizon practically giving droids away with 2 for 1 deals and only be a few percentage points behind is a testament of how strong the iPhone is. With those types of advantages it shouldn’t even be close…..
@ ACR:
That’s some pretty strong stuff you’re sniffing….
This may be short lived…
http://blogs.forbes.com/elizabethwoyke/2011/02/08/more-consumers-ditching-droids-than-att-for-verizon-iphone/
@DroidDoesnt
You do realize iOS had like a 3 year head start, right? Android has surpassed iOS in just over a year. You fanbois are all the same… First you mouth off about how terrible android is and it will never come close. Then when it is blowing it out of the water you say “oh, just wait for iPhone 4”, then when that doesn’t put a dent in Android’s growth you say “oh, just wait for the verizon iPhone”… next it’s “oh, just wait for iPhone 5” … It is Apple’s FAULT that they choose to be the sole manufacturer. It is their FAULT that they choose to lock themselves into a single carrier for 5 years. and it is Apple’s FAULT that Jobs had too much pride to put flash on a device that is proven capable of running it.
I don’t care too much for making my choice of mobile operating system a lifestyle decision. When Apple makes a device that actually exceeds the capabilities of it’s competitors again instead of just playing catch-up, maybe I’ll consider owning an iPhone again… but until then, Android is just a better choice.
@DroidDoesn’t
What you don’t realize is this blog is directly due to the strength of Android as well, or you wouldn’t be here commenting nor would any of us for that matter.
Apple, thanks to Jobs, got lazy… And with his arrogance, thought he could take down the entire, cut throat cellular and consumer electronics empire (markets). Ipods have peaked and are on the decline… The iphone will follow as the RAZR-Effect is wearing off. Jobs is out and Apple is vulnerable, besieged, and surrounded by the droid army. Outside of their fortified, walled garden, pissants (fanbois) are firing feebly from the ramparts. Yet, the droid army has BIGGER-(B)ig(F)ucking(G)uns (more powerful droid hardware) TO decimated Apple and blast down their walls!
@ Scott:
A little fact checking for you:
First of all, the iPhone debuted in July of 2007, the G1 came in 2008. That would be just a little over a year, not 3 as you claim. And when u factor in the fact that the App store didn’t arrive until 2008, the means the respective storefront debuted within a few months of each other.
Secondly, I’ve never said that Android is a terrible OS. In fact, I think that Android has done the best job of all of Apple’s competitors of copying the iPhone, unless you really believe that the fact that Android employs a multi-touch, gesture based UI with an accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, visual voicemail, app store, has the same 70-30 revenue split with it’s developers, now supports in-app purchasing, web based app store, is all PURE COINCIDENCE and that Android was planning to implement those features all along (uh, doubt it).
Thirdly, I would hardly call a 3.7% lead in market share “blowing it out of the water”. Which means you missed the ENTIRE POINT of my last post: it SHOULD be blowing the iPhone out of the water! The fact that Android has a 100+ to 1 handset advantage and can only muster a 3.7% lead tells me that the iPhone is unbelievably strong to withstand such a barrage and only be behind by so little. All of this without the benefit of being on Verizon (remember these are Dec 2010 numbers). So there…..
@ Sputnick:
Sure….I guess that means the same for all of the iPhone blogs that Fandroids invade, right???
@DroidDoesn’t
Absolutely…same difference vice versa. That’s why I don’t visit a WebOS or a WinMo 7 blog…they’re not significant right now.:)
Peace.
No, It isn’t coincidence that it has all very similar features; but if you intend to have me believe that Apple invented the concepts of multi-touch, accelerometer, gyroscope (lol), i would kindly ask you to step away from Mr. Jobs’s kool-aid.
Apparently you missed the point of my post as I never shed doubt on the “strength of the iPhone”… it used to be a revolutionary device, then again, so was the blackberry. The problem, and all of the faults here, specifically a sole manufacturer, leads to a complete void of innovation and very long release cycles. I loved my iPhone 2G, what upgrade were we treated to one year later? 3G! Next year, can’t wait, what’re they gonna do to make this thing better? What? Just a faster processor? Ok, they must be working on something really big for the next year… what? A gyroscope and a higher resolution screen? …oh, can’t forget the front-facing camera to keep up with the EVO. I suppose I could argue iPhone ripped this idea off from android, but that is a sophomoric debate.
At such an incredibly long release schedule (well, that’s all you can really do when there’s only one manufacturer), and adding such minor features on that incredibly long release schedule, it is impossible to keep up with competition… Especially given the fact that a new generation of android devices are released every few months.
So yes, I’ll yield to your wisdom on this: You’re absolutely right that with such poor business decisions, a product is destined to be overtaken… and I’ll agree that it is a damn miracle that it hasn’t been overtaken sooner… but then again, there are also still waaaay too many blackberry’s left on the planet.
Android is ALL about choice. Apple iFools don’t know what that really means. Its like talking to a wall. No point. Two different views. Android rules.
@DroidDoesnt
I’d advise you to re-read the article. It says nothing of this “iPhone” or “100 other phones” that you speak of. It is quite simply a comparison of the number of users on only three different operating systems, Android, RIM and iOS. The number of devices using each system is not part of the question, except that it can be seen as a business decision directly leading to fewer users of your OS. Please re-read and try to stay on topic next time. Thanks.
@ Scott:
Boy, talk about sophomoric arguments! First of all, I never suggested that Apple invented multi-touch,an accelerometer or a gyroscope (although Apple DID invent visual voicemail); what they did invent, however, wax the RECIPE that brought these features together and provided the rest of the tech world the template for the modern day smartphone. The person who baked the first pound cake didn’t invent the eggs, flour, sugar, etc; they invented the recipe. Ask yourself this: was there a phone prior to the iPhone that blended all of these features? (rhetorical question; u already know the answer). And for fandroids to try and pretend that Android is not a derivative of iOS is just plain intellectual dishonesty.
And btw, the words innovation and Android should never appear in the same sentence. It is very easy to copy and OS, add a few wrinkles (widgets, live wallpapers) and claim innovation. It is a known fact that early iterations of Android actually resembled blackberry until the iPhone was released and then they completely changed gears. Even the most respected tech reviewers have stated that Android has attempted to mimic the look and feel of the iPhone. Look to each his own. You prefer Android, and that’s fine. But it’s clear who is setting the agenda, and who’s following.
@ jasonsabio:
I am well aware of the meaning of this article. The point that I have made and will continue to make is that the fact that there are over 100 different Android handsets available on all 4 majors carriers is the primary reason why the OS has spread to the level that it has. It’s not as if one or two handsets are driving the adoption of the platform…..that is exactly the case, however, with iOS.
@DroidDoesnt
*SIGH* [Pointless bickering amounting to nothing]
It matters not who made this or invented that first. All that matters is who is on top and who will be forgotten.
@DroidDoesnt
I’m honestly not sure where you’re going with this. Your original argument was that the developers of Android (sa Google) somehow have an unfair advantage because they had the omniscient foresight to develop an open platform that anyone can leverage for free?
Then you devolve into some ramblings about how this isn’t meaningful because it’s all a copy of iOS. While there may be some merit to that argument, and that some fundamental interface elements (yeah, icons on a screen) were found to be more user friendly… if you have ever even used an Android, you have to admit that Apple would be doing their customers a HUGE favor by doing some borrowing of their own. The iOS notification system blows. The fact that the home screen is little more than a collection of icons is incredibly primitive… Let’s not forget who supported the concept of “folders” first. All software development is a series of trial, error and reuse of what works with end users. You’ll see this to be true when iOS finally decides to introduce a usable notification system, a true semblance of multi-tasking, and a homescreen the consists of more information than a bunch of icons. Really, who is leading this? Android has all these, but of course that isn’t innovative because it isn’t easy enough for a primate or small child to operate.
…But I digress, Your moving target arguments are more than I care to keep up with.
That’s bcuz u can’t keep up! It’s ok though….happens all the time when fandroids are presented with facts. My points are clear: never did I make the case that it was UNFAIR that Android phones outnumber the iPhone by such a wide margin; I just think it’s laughable that you guys boast about a such a small lead in marketshare when you have such a huge numerical advantage in handsets…..it should be a BLOWOUT!!!
Point two: like it or not, and fandroids have such a hard time admitting this, your OS would not exist in it’s current form if it did not have the iPhone to copy from….anyone with a brain can see that Android is a derivative of iPhone. That my friend can not be disputed. But that’s cool. Some of us like the real thing. Others like fandroids are content to settle for imitators….to each his own
lol, if you say so. The masses clearly prefer android over that primitive piece of junk.
The wise philosopher Plato once said, “The masses are INCURABLY ignorant….”
…except this time they’re supported by quantifiable evidence. I’m sure there’re some fossils out there that still prefer wooden skis over the fiberglass “copycats”. I’ll yield to the masses on this one too ;)
The masses gave us George W. Bush not once, but TWICE…..so much for the masses
I like that android is always trying to stay current, love the notification system, but I wish their phones would be released better. My friend bought a motorola droid the day it was released and not even a year later the droid 2 was out. Not very good considering most phone contracts are 2 years long.
I like apples hardware and iOS but they need to stop holding back from what phones are capable of by only allowing what they want on the iDevice. Once I buy the device its mine and I should be allowed to customize it as I like, so I jailbroke my iPhone and like it much more and encourage other iPhone users to do the same.
Im not gonna say only buy android or iPhone. Try each one out and make your own decision.
Ive been holding out for a new iPhone after passing on the 4,but if the iPhone 5 does not have 4g, its a big mistake by apple and the Atrix 4g will move to the top of my list.