US Android phone marketshare still top but falls against iOS
One subject that is sure to divide many smartphone users is the preference between Android and iOS platforms and many are fiercely loyal to one operating system or the other. Therefore figures of how those platforms are doing in the market are often interesting and today we have news that for the US smartphone marketplace, although the Android platform is still at the top, its share fell in April while Apple’s iOS share saw a slight increase.
Apple made steady slow progress throughout April continuing an upward pace while Android dipped over the same period according to the latest comScore study using MobiLens data. This involved 30,000 mobile users and in the three months to April, Android gained 2.2 points to end up with a market share of 50.8%. However although there was a gain for the overall period there was actually a month-by-month decline as its market share at the end of March had been 51% after previously rising 3.7%.
In the same three-month period to the end of April, Apple rose by 1.9% and is now on a 31.4% share of the market with the iPhone going up slightly by 0.7 points in April. The only other of the top five mobile platforms to increase its marketshare in April was Windows Phone with help from Nokia, which rose 0.1 points, according to Apple Insider. Meanwhile unsurprisingly Symbian fell by 0.1% and RIM, for whom things are looking pretty grim at the moment, dropped by 0.7%.
Since January there has also been a 6-point rise in the numbers of people who own smartphones and at the end of April those amounted to more than 107 million. Downloaded app usage was also up by 1.6% in the three months to the end of April while over the same period there was a slight rise of 0.5% in mobile browser usage. Texting fell by 0.5%.
Intriguing stuff then and although the shifts in this latest survey are slight it’s difficult to know if they will become more significant. One thing for sure is that with the Android Samsung Galaxy S3 just out and coming to the US later this month and also Apple’s iPhone 5 due for release in the coming months, there could be some real changes in the next survey results.
Are you an Android enthusiast or a loyal Apple iOS fan? Do you think the Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5 will make any major differences to the current trends in US smartphone market share? Let us know with your comments.
Comments
19 thoughts on “US Android phone marketshare still top but falls against iOS”
(Yawn) Market share, smarket share. How about stats that really matter, like:
Profit share: Apple 75% Rest of the Industry 25%
Number of Apps: App Store over 600K Android 400K (most pundits predicted the Android Market would overtake Apple years ago)
Browser share: Apple 63.8%
Developer interest: Apple iPhone hands down favorite, while developer interest in Adroid is waning, which explains why a platform with more market share and no approval process still trails Apple by a healthy margin.
I often read that Pundits declare that Android is “winning”…..but based upon the aforementioned statistics, I would ask, WINNING WHAT???
” Profit share: Apple 75% Rest of the Industry 25% ”
Oh yes, Apple’s vast profit margin is a good thing, how could it not be? It’s not like Chinese slaves are paid mere Pennies to work their fingers to the bone in diabolical and dangerous (not to mention illegal in the 1st world) working conditions! 15 workers from a single Apple factory committed suicide in 1 year due to the quality of “life” they suffered so you could have your precious iPhone.
I’m sorry, I didn’t know that foxconn was an “Apple factory” by virtue of being and Apple supplier. So I guess Samsung is an “Apple factory” too since they are a supplier as well?? Uh, no….whatever the conditions are at Foxconn that’s for the Chinese government to solve, not Apple….
But I’ve noticed how you conveniently sidestepped the actual POINTS of my post; don’t worry, I already knew when I posted it that you wouldn’t be able to argue them, so I expected other issues to be raised to try to distract from the main point….
So predictable 🙂
75% profit merely means people are stupid and will hand money over because it fashionable to and that Apple don’t mind making money out of stupid people. Fair play tbh. There are a lot of stupid people in the world so its natural that Apple would do well.
600,000 apps. woop woop, you used them all!? Or anywhere near all of them? No thought not, so its a bit pointless pointing out the fact that for every 4 fart apps Android has iOS has 6!? Well done Apple… I would imagine both Android and iOS got to saturation point with apps LONG ago, and all the extra crap that is added only makes the good ones harder to find!
Browser share is pointless, I have been on sites with my Chrome browser that thought I was on safari because they both use the same engine, ill bet its the same for Android so the numbers are pointless, there are also aftermarket browsers on Android which don’t seem to count towards Android browser numbers, so that’s a pretty useless % to throw about.
I hope you enjoy knowing that 75% of the money you spend with Apple is effectively buying you nothing. Ill enjoy knowing that 75% of my money is going towards getting a good product 😉
Stupid people buy big, plasticky phones about the size of a VHS video tape. Stupid people buy phones whose app store have malware growing by over 400% a year. Stupid people buy phones from carriers and OEM’S that hold them hostage for updates (Froyo is on more Android phones than ICS….how pathetic). In short, stupid people buy Android phones.
600,000 apps, rising developer interest and nearly 10 times more payout to developers than the Malware Market shows that the App Store will always be top priority for developers, despite it’s smaller market share. Android is simply second rate, Brand X
Browser share is unimportant? Ah the sheer ignorance of fandroids!! It shows that iPhone users actually USE their phones to browse the web. We’re you aware that iphone users are more valuable to your precious Google than Android users? For search engines like Google and sites that use pay per click, who’s actually driving their revenues is VERY important….get a clue
So since Android’s market share lead (due primarily to having over 300 models on the market, many of which are commodity junk) hasn’t given it one distict advantage over Apple in a category that matters, I’ll ask again: what exactly is Android “winning”???
”
Stupid people buy big, plasticky phones about the size of a VHS video tape.” Considering most people want the next iphone to have a larger screen, your point is invalid. I award you no points for being a blind fanboy
Ok I guess I have to dumb it down for fandroids to understand, so here goes: Most iPhone users who desire a larger screen want it to fall anywhere between 3.7 and 4 inches. They have absolutely no desire for these mammoth, 4.8″ pieces of plastic that are now the norm in Android land today, so my point is completely valid. I, however, award you plenty of points for being a blind fandroid 🙂
The RAZR and RAZR maxx are Kevlar not plastic.
Both are thinner and the maxx has a way better battery life.
HTC one x and the Samsung galaxy s3 have quad core, faster than iPhone.
IPhone still lacks 4g! Think before you trash the far superior phones!
Geek alert!! Geek alert!! Prepare to be inundated with quad cores, Snapdragons, Tegra 600’s, Exynos, and all the other stuff that gives geeks orgasms!! (And normal people couldn’t care less about) I actually applaud Apple for not jumping on the 4G bandwagon too early. Let all of you pretend iPhone beta testers complain about battery life and prolonged outages, not to mention spotty coverage. Once again, Apple will swoop in and say, “this is how you do it, dummies”.
P.S. the Razr line are the UGLIEST phones I’ve ever seen….if its not plastic, it sure feels like it 🙂
 There is no doubting these stats that you have mentioned however they are useless. Fact of the matter is Apple users don’t purchase the product they purchase the brand name. In terms of hardware capabilities there is no one who can say that at the time of release that the iPhone is the most technologically advanced phone. Its not. Full Stop. Brand name buyers will always result in a bigger profit share cause these people trust blindly on whatever is coming out. Biggest example….queuing madly for the new product without even looking at it. So apple is welcome to bigger profit share, i will be happy buying something which is more technically advanced.Â
Of course these stats are useless…..useless to head-in-the-sand fandroids who dismiss them in order to maintain their “winning” edge. I get it, you’re a geek. You’re into cores, processors, upload and download speeds, blah blah blah. But understand that you are in the minority, as even the vast majority of Android users, let alone iPhone users, couldn’t care less about those things. I prefer a phone that is easy to use, secure enough to be widely adopted into the enterprise, MUCH less suceptible to malware than a certain copycat platform that shall remain nameless, gets updates the SAME DAY they are released instead of being held hostage by carriers and OEM’S, and is smaller than a VHS video tape. If you don’t think you have made concessions being an Android user then you are fooling yourself. But what you’ve decided is that these are concessions that you can live with, as have I and other iPhone users. To each his own 🙂
Yawn to iking! Android = freedom of choice. I phone = dictator worship
I’m an atheist also by the way 🙂
Translation: I really cannot intelligently refute his points so I’ll attempt to confuse the issue by raising points that are totally irrelevant…
So predictable 🙂
Profits =/= quality, which is what this article is about. Who prefers which.
Nice try though 🙂
Apple is just looting you stupid people!
Android phones with almost same specs are available within $100 in emerging markets, whereas iPhone costs minimum $650. This is completely foolish pricing, guys.
With Android phones / tablets being available within $100, Govt are offering them almost free to students so that they can come up.
Apple price is very ridiculous, foolish and only such stupid people like you go for Apple.
Yes, exactly !
There are millions and millions are students in third-world where students haven’t seen or used computers, and hence cannot compete effectively.
With the availability of Android tablets for less than $35 ( 7″ capacitive, 1GHz, 4GB HDD, 512MB RAM, front camera, Wi-Fi, USB OTG, etc ), students in these country can learn and come up efficiently.
Google and Chinese OEMs are doing very well for these coutries.
Apple iPhone / iPad earns almost 50% profit from the retain price. Does Apple need that much money ? Why can’t it offer at less, competetive price, at-least in these poor countries ?
I don’t think so……. Android phones are great and we h ave seen the pre-sales booking for Android powered Samsung GS3. These Apple guys never show the right reports.
as James says, with 100sus you can have an iphone and since is open source you can upgrade your cell phone to have all the functionalities you need on it!! i bought a 100Susx8 and now with the community support I have icecream sandwich with a lot of features like sense, multi touch, driver unlocked by community, apps to sd with 16gb and an optimized performance, so I can play PRO Evolution soccer 2012 and some other new games.