By Comscore have released their Q4 2011 numbers for smartphone market share in the United States. Earlier reports suggested Apple would take a great chunk of the share back from Android with the launch of the iPhone 4S, and while they did have a great spurt to close the year out it didn’t hurt Android as much as some might have thought it would.
They found that Android still grew 2.5% more over the previous quarter at 47.3% vs 44.8%. Apple, on the other hand, grew 2.2% more over the previous quarter with 29.6% vs 27.4%. Everyone else is on the decline, a trend that has held true for quite some time now. RIM now only owns 16% and despite what Steve Ballmer would have you believe, Microsoft is falling, too, at 4.7%.
RIM has recently shaken things up by getting a new CEO who wishes to inspire change for Blackberry OS and within their ranks overall. Needing developers in order to create a robust apps marketplace for users, they’ve recently began poaching Android users by making it easy for developers to port their applications to Blackberry. They’re even offering developers free devices for doing so.
Microsoft is relying on Windows Phone 7 as it is. They believe they have a very good operating system, and they do, but it remains to be seen whether or not users will be willing to leave Android and iOS.
Some suggest that Windows’s slow start is not an issue as Android suffered the same slow start only to become the leading and fastest growing operating system worldwide. It remains to be seen if history will repeat itself. Take a look at the full slate above.
Looks like Windows Phone 7 ist struggling. The system overall looks good, a bit boring but efficient, but there are no good phones, Microsoft should hurry to implement multicore CPUs. And even the “great” Nokia Lumia 800/900 has an obsolete screen resolution.
Agreed. Apollo looks awesome but they are saying that is 6 months away. Would like some competition with android. Sorry phandroid : /
I love the idea that Windows 8 and WP8 will be virtually one in the same. Problem is, like you said, Windows Phone is just plain boring. If they were an Android rip off then I probably would have switched just because its actually smooth and I do plan on buying a Windows 8 Tablet PC.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but at the same time period that WP7 is at currently, Android had jumped considerably. I think we’re past the “look what Android did during it’s first year” argument, WP7 is stagnant. If things don’t change, Nokia’s Elop can start peeing in his pants to stay warm, he made a huge blunder not going with Android.
People keep mentionning Android’s slower start but the market is pretty different. There were no real alternative at the time to iOS while there’s now two well-established ecosystems. MS went from being the dominant smartphone OS with WM to being virtually non-exixtent and now trying to come bak with a new system while people are investing in platforms that are very well in place. I’d be glad to see WP7 become the #2 mobile OS but I’m very doubtful it’ll ever happen.
After having used WP7 for almost a year as my work phone, I have to say that the OS is very good and extremely stable and very fast to perform most common tasks, it also has stellar battery life. the problem is how limited the app selection is, their app store is still incredibly empty and missing key apps I use every day on my android phone, and that the OS lacks any ability to customize and the OS itself is rather boring. I think WP7’s super easy to use interface is better suited to compete for iphone customers than android users, but the device is too limited for even iphone users lol.
For me, it’s the tiles. Every time I see a new MS phone, I cringe at how restrictive the Metro UI is. A bigger part of me cringes even more as I face a reality where I’m stuck on Windows 7 for my PC because I want no part of a Metro UI on my computer.
MS missed the boat, which is sad because the actual mobile OS is really well put together. Everyone I’ve talked to that’s jumped ship from iOS to WP7 say the same thing, it’s faster and smoother than the iPhone. What WP7 needs is someone like Cyanogen to hack it and give people the freedom of expression and creativity of a custom home screen.
Google didn’t have any market share because it launched on one device on a single small carrier. When a decent device (OG Droid) on a decent carrier (Verizon) launched, it exploded. Windows Phone 7 has had plenty of time, devices, and carriers to have market share: something Android didn’t have in the same time period.
Windows Phone, you are dead. Admit it. RIM’s Blackberry, you are also dead. WebOS, sadly, you have also passed on. It’s going to be a two horse race for quite some time…
Windows biggest problem is itself. Fair or not, people are going to assume (at least a few I’ve talked to), that Windows phones are going to be as problematic with security, crashes and assorted glitches that their desktop OS’s have been.
Add in the mid level specs (and yes I know it doesn’t need beefier specs, but they do have to at least try and keep up), its bare market, and there’s nothing compelling about it, not enough to make anyone switch to my mind.
iPhone sales were impressive but most were probably upgrades of existing users, not new iPhone subscriptions. Android is still pushing a tad ahead with _new_ users.