If you rewind the clock back to the beginning of 2008, a ChangeWave Research survey indicated that just 1% of people planning on buying a smartphone were considering a Google Android-driven device. By the beginning of this year, that number had rocketed all the way up to 21%.
That’s a pretty hefty increase in Android interest, to say the least.
Now, with the first quarter of 2010 in the books, it appears that the Android operating system is chipping away at the solid grip of the Apple iPhone OS. According to a June 4, 2010 study published by Nielson, the Android OS is up to 9% of the total smartphone market share, a number that has catapulted Android ahead of Symbian, Linux and Palm. In fact, Android now enjoys over double the market share of Palm.
Among mobile users that currently carry an Android-powered gadget, Nielson says that 70% of them will stick with an Android device the next time they buy a smartphone. This is an important development, since it reflects a significant and growing brand loyalty that simply wasn’t present just a year ago.
Android’s recent swell in popularity is making a dent in the iPhone platform’s stronghold, for sure. Still, it would be a huge mistake to assume that Android will overtake iPhone any time soon. Lest we forget, in late 2009 iPhone unseated Nokia as the most profitable handset supplier in the world (according to strategyanalytics.com). Clearly, that is no small feat, given the fact that Nokia has a far more diverse list of cellular products than Apple does.
For now, the short answer is that the iPhone OS still has the edge. But given the impressive surge in recent Android-driven device sales, iPhone might finally have a real contender to deal with in the fight for smartphone OS market share.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Not to be anti-iPhone, but I believe it was able to beat Nokia because people were getting tired of Nokia. It came to a point where people would just buy a phone and find that the prices fell by as much as 25% in the next quarter. It was not an attractive situation. Sony Ericsson would have been a good contender but it produced a lackluster line of phones back then. iPhones came at around this time, offering a sleek new smartphone that had all the new technologies. Of course it would shoot right up.
But, on the other hand, I also think that you are overestimating the interest in Android. You have to factor in that Android devices were basically unseen in 2008, how could people be excited when there is only one phone (Google’s) that came out in August or November of that year??? The fact that manufacturers are coming out with a whole lot of Android phones in 2009 and 2010 would generate a major part of that interest. What’s more because Android is FREE, it gives consumers a choice of really great phones at less than the price of an iPhone. These two factors would surely increase the interest in Android devices.
But like you, I am wondering if that would be enough to topple iPhone’s leading position, esp. with the 4.0 out. We’ll see, won’t we?
no doubt, you are right
in modern world people don’t think about it