Google Android Captures #1 Position in U.S. Smartphone Market

http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/3/comScore_Reports_January_2011_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share

by clark-kent • 15 years ago

96 107 15 years ago

comscore.com

mjfern• 15 years ago

These data spell significant trouble for Microsoft in the smartphone market. Despite launching Windows Phone 7 (WP7) with great fanfare in November 2010, Microsoft's market share in smartphones has in fact declined 1.7% from October 2010 through January 2011.

alperakgun• 15 years ago

apparently in late 2012, when nokia windows phones are released, microsoft mobile market share will approach zero.

rbanffy6• 15 years ago

The good news is that they can't have a negative market share.

RyanMcGreal• 15 years ago

The data spell bad news for RIM as well: nearly all Android's gains came out of RIM's market share.

ZeroGravitas12• 15 years ago

The market is growing, so it's not as simple as that. It's more like RIM is capturing below market rate from the new smartphone users, Apple is almost exactly at market rate and Android's scooping up the rest.

How people move between platforms would be interesting, and become more important as smartphones reach saturation, but you can't really speculate from this data.

keyle• 15 years ago

They weren't many phones supporting WP7 until recently. I think you will see that number grow slowly. They're a bit late to the party. I think it's a better OS than Android in my view. That said, the only people I know with WP7 are .NET developers ;)

michaelbuckbee• 15 years ago

The fact that .NET developers are the ones buying WP7 phones might be a positive sign for the platform. WP7 needs apps.

akamaka• 15 years ago

American smartphone market.

rbanffy6• 15 years ago

Do you have numbers for other markets? I gather in some of them Symbian is still going strong.

mcantelon• 15 years ago

The world market as well: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/31/us-google-nokia-id...

jessriedel• 15 years ago

Well, the OP's headline is about phone models and your rank is about operating systems. Is still don't know what phone model is #1 in the world.

ZeroGravitas12• 15 years ago

Also European market (though this is sales, not marketshare):

http://www.idc.com/about/viewpressrelease.jsp?containerId=pr...

Android Explodes in Western Europe, Drives Market Growth and Becomes the Biggest Smartphone Operating System in 4Q10, says IDC

Android growth was 1,580% year-on-year vs. Apple's 66%

flogic• 15 years ago

Well, I called that one. Where do I sign up to be a technologist. Or do I need to be wrong for that job?

kreek• 15 years ago

Nice, that made me laugh.

jimbokun3• 15 years ago

I hope this serves as a wakeup call to Apple, that their position is not so unassailable that they can continue looking for new ways to drive away partners and developers without consequences.

lispm3• 15 years ago

Why? Apple makes much of the profit. A report claims that Apple makes with 4% global market share 50% of the profits: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/01/31/apples_4_mobil...

Google does not even really sell a phone. Google sells you, the user.

Kylekramer• 15 years ago

They currently make most of the profit. But with declining market share puts those profits in severe danger in the future.

And god, if I never heard the "Google sells you" line again, it would be too soon. Apple has an ad platform too, you know.

moultano• 15 years ago

The point of the grandparent's post was this:

>that their position is not so unassailable that they can continue looking for new ways to drive away partners and developers without consequences

I think most everyone wants more competition to keep any single company from being abusive, but your response to this is essentially "Apple is still #1!" I don't understand what you are saying here. Is it that you think Apple isn't really under any pressure? That you don't want them to make their developer/partner deals more generous?

jimbokun3• 15 years ago

Because content is more important to selling phones than better hardware and software. Right now, with the App Store and iTunes, Apple has the most and best content for their phones.

But what if they lose Netflix, Kindle and others by demanding too much, but those applications are still available on Android? At that point, how much better does iPhone hardware and software have to be for consumers to buy an iPhone over an Android phone?

With iPod, Apple had high profit margins, the most and best content, and dominant market share. They should want to repeat that model with iPhone, not the 1990s Mac model.

ZeroGravitas12• 15 years ago

That report is talking about the "phone" market, as in the billions of commodity phones used to text and talk in developing nations. Apple's market share and profit share of the smartphone market is far less impressive (something like 20%/40% the last time I saw figures), and is mostly inflated by Nokia phones that most here wouldn't consider as a smartphone and have correspondingly low margins.

dchest• 15 years ago

Again?

noahlt• 15 years ago

It seems like we get this story every week.

jokermatt999• 15 years ago

I think we actually got that exact same comment on the last version of this story I saw. I assume next week we'll get this one as well, and so on. :-)

The story was news at some point, at least. It's a major milestone in the mobile OS wars.

whatever_dude2• 15 years ago

I'd say it's because there are different milestones that people - fanboys, media, companies - set. There's so many ways to measure. Daily activations, current total market penetration... then there are variables like location (US or global?), range (smartphones or all mobile devices?)... Android is just winning them one by one, and this specific one happens to be one of the most important metrics, IMO.

bonch3• 15 years ago

Maybe the Android fans needed something to cheer themselves up with after last week's Apple event. :)

bane2• 15 years ago

#1 in volume doesn't always mean #1 in profit.

I'm guessing Apple is trying to grab hard onto the market segment that brings in the most profit, while Google is going for the commodity, high volume, low margin option.

The good news is that both models can coexist in the same market. After all, Nintendo's strategy is a bit like Google's, while Microsoft and Sony's are more like Google's. Nintendo has been quite profitable for a very long time even when they didn't own the entire market.

rbanffy6• 15 years ago

> Apple is trying to grab hard onto the market segment that brings in the most profit, while Google is going for the commodity, high volume, low margin option.

Hardly. Google doesn't make phones.

tesseract2• 15 years ago

If they did, though, it would make sense. Apple's business model is to make money by selling hardware; Google's is to make money by selling advertising.

bane2• 15 years ago

Google "makes" advertising though, the more eyeballs it can get in front of, the better for its model.

guelo2• 15 years ago

> #1 in volume doesn't always mean #1 in profit.

Unless you're an Apple shareholder why does that matter? As a developer #1 in market share is a very significant milestone.

bonch3• 15 years ago

> As a developer #1 in market share is a very significant milestone.

Unless you're Android, which has significantly less apps than iOS and is getting bad press for its malware problems. Additionally, iOS runs on the iPad, so iPhone developers can universally target the #1 tablet in the world.

Google makes very little off of Android. They've been following Apple's lead design-wise (look at images of what Android was going to look like before the iPhone came out). As a free operating system that carriers can exert full control over, it's no surprise that it's #1 in marketshare compared to a single phone on two carriers, but if that doesn't actually translate into profits for Google, developers for the platform, or innovation for the industry, does it really matter? The iPhone is still directing the smartphone industry and getting the positive press, and the iPad practically has no competitors to this day.

valjavec• 15 years ago

This is so funny. Android is gaining it's share and everyone is trying to create iPhone killer. Noone is doing an Android killer:)

tesseract2• 15 years ago

Apple? ;)

wmeredith• 15 years ago

That's because the iPhone is where the profit is at: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/21/pie-chart-apples-outr...

That link basically says that Jan-Jun 2010 Apple sold just under 3% of all smart phones in the world, but they took in 39% of all profit made in that sector in the same time period. It's really astounding what they've been able to do this relatively established market in just 3 or 4 years. No wonder everyone else was so blindsided.

Apple isn't after market share or any metric in particular, they never have been. They're after making great products they want to use.

ZeroGravitas12• 15 years ago

I mentioned this above in relation to a different article about the same numbers, but that's not smartphone share, it's phone share. Since the phone market is mostly cheap, commodity items it shouldn't be a surprise that smartphone vendors have bigger profits than their phone share would indicate. Mostly people are impressed by it, because they think it's smartphone share. Perhaps they're mislead because some of Apple's competitors compete in both markets?

YooLi4• 15 years ago

It's because all Android has done is blurred the line between smart phone and feature phone. It's Android phones now that are the free and BOGO phones and that's exactly what Google wants--a base out there that they cannot be excluded from for their primary business, advertising.

ex.: http://macdailynews.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/110303_andro...

whatusername• 15 years ago

Dear US writers: $0 Upfront is not a "free" phone. $50 Upfront is not a "Cheap" phone.

I can get a "Free" iPhone 4 32GB on any carrier I like in Australia.

// This doesn't mean that Android isn't undercutting apple on price -- but that $0 / $50 / $200 upfront are not meaningful in any way

queenOfEngland4• 15 years ago

10 points.

Again, another BULLSHIT post. The dominant Android phones are overwhelmingly the high-end phones that retail in the $600-$700 range. They all come with thousand-dollar plus contracts. There may come a time where such a blurring occurs, but it won't be until the cost of data contracts significantly drops. And you can bet that Apple will be fighting for that market as well.

megablast3• 15 years ago

To create an android phone, means writing an OS, giving it away, and trying to get hardware developers, app developers, and advertisers on board. That is not going to be easy,

Microsoft might have a chance, if they started to give away their OS, but probably not.

artsrc• 15 years ago

I think Intel would be the company to give it a shot. They were part of thing Nokia walked away from.

Android uses Linux, you don't have to write an OS from completely from scratch.

georgieporgie3• 15 years ago

Somewhat off-topic: is there any reason not to get Virgin Mobile's $150 LG Optimus V for the purpose of exploring Android development? Aside from smaller memory and lower-res camera, it looks like I don't miss out on anything from top of the line models.

trotsky4• 15 years ago

I've played with one, it is a very acceptable phone and a fine dev platform. I think it's a good idea.

georgieporgie3• 15 years ago

Thanks for the thumbs-up. I snagged the last one in town at Target for $109 (if you view the gift card as 'cash').

I've already connected it via Wifi and downloaded apps. Looks like can play with quite a lot of features without even activating.

discreteevent• 15 years ago

Thats exactly what I got it for and it turns out that its a good little phone. The resistive touch works more accurately for me than other phones of the same size and the battery lasts me 3 days most of the time.

ZeroGravitas12• 15 years ago

The LG Optimus screen is capacitive. You can get a stylus for it but it's a special capacitive one.

athom• 15 years ago

I just wish I could afford one. Can you still use the pay-as-you-go plans with this one?

georgieporgie3• 15 years ago

As I understand it, the cheapest plan is $25/mo with unlimited data, 300 minutes voice, and no contract.

Edit: also, I saw on Slickdeals.net that Target is/was selling them for $129 and you get a $20 gift card.

trotsky4• 15 years ago

More or less. Virgin Mobile is a no contract provider, you pre-pay for each month of service as you go. All the plans are unlimited (~5gigs) data/ unlimited texts - $60 gets you unlimited voice, $25 gets you 300 minutes, and there is something in the middle at $40/mo. The $25/mo is the best US deal for a capable android phone that I know of. You do need to pick from these plans though, you can't use their x cents a minute pay as you use it plan afaik.

EDIT: Link to the thread (thanks georgie) about it being $129 w/ $20 gift card at target. Damn good deal, note the one I played with worked fine over wifi before it was activated with VM. Sale started yesterday: http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=27...

guelo2• 15 years ago

The main problem, at least for me, is that it is on Sprint's CDMA network so it doesn't work if you travel out of the country. Another issue for some people is it doesn't have flash.

j_b_f• 15 years ago

The only reasons not to get one are (1) Not-great hardware, if you love top-of-the-line stuff, it'll fall short, (2) Sprint's network is pretty sucky, and you can't roam onto Verizon like I believe you can with regular Sprint, (3) Virgin Mobile doesn't allow VM forwarding so you can't easily use Google Voice for Voicemail.

On the other hand, it's a nearly-pure Froyo experience, the battery life and performance is great, the plans are dead cheap, it has awesome hardware buttons not crappy haptic capacitive ones, a Market install of "Quick Settings" opens up the Wifi Hotspot feature. Seriously, $25/mo?!

Anyway, I bought one, and coming off an old iPhone (and AT&T), I think it's great so far. Might have to reevaluate after I spend some time out of the metro area and away from Interstates.

samirmm• 15 years ago

Interesting sidebar in the comscore report: In the continuously contentious debate as to whether the future of mobile apps are downloaded or browser-based, we see a gain in both, but native apps seems to have had a marginal edge in gain.

Would be cool to see this data over a longer window.

Used browser; 36.2%; 37.0%; 0.8 Used downloaded apps; 33.7%; 35.3%; 1.6

nl3• 15 years ago

I wonder how much of the gain in app usage can be attributed to the new version of the Android market, which I think shipped during this time period. We'd have to see app usage by platform stats for that though I guess.

rufo• 15 years ago

iPhone is only one small piece of the iOS puzzle, though - iPod touches and iPads add a not-small chunk to iOS' marketshare.

megablast3• 15 years ago

Yes, but that does not invalidate the data presented here. It is worth comparing smartphones, to see how others are fairing in this market segment, and it is worth comparing entire OS marketshare, to see what everyone is using.

Apple is doing well, and Android is doing amazingly well.

Tycho3• 15 years ago

I don't know about amazingly. It seems entirely predictable: phone makers desperate for something to rival iOS, and Google provide it for free. Why would they turn it down? Android's popularity, in a funny sort of way, is actually indicative of the iPhone's lack of serious competition. What would be amazing is if one of the Android handsets outsold the iPhone.

whatever_dude2• 15 years ago

Look at this momentum http://plixi.com/photos/original/82369712

iworkforthem• 15 years ago

Er... why is HTC not in the list?

ZeroGravitas12• 15 years ago

The first chart is all phones, not just smartphones and HTC only sell smartphones. You either have to sell lots of dumbphones too (like Samsung and LG) or sell a whole bunch of smartphones (RIM and Apple).

I'm not sure whether Motorola is there mostly on the strengths of smartphone sales alone or combined with dumbphones.

rooshdi• 15 years ago

We've seen this coming for quite some time. Both Google and Apple have very apparent opposing strategies in how they're going to attract customers to their respective platforms. It's almost like watching Mac vs Windows all over again. Apple is shooting for higher quality and high-end customers, while Google is aiming for a higher scale and much wider user base. In the end, both should co-exist and serve their niche just like Mac and Windows.

Google Android Captures #1 Position in U.S. Smartphone Market

Related Stories