iPhone iOS squashed beneath Android's fist in Q3

by Steven Mostyn - Nov 1 2010, 16:24

For many a month, we here at The Tech Herald have been typing the words “increasingly popular” before using “Google Android” in our reports. Now, however, after perusing the latest quarterly smartphone market numbers we’ve decided to officially drop “increasingly” from that description. Quite clearly, Android is just plain popular.

Specifically, figures released by researchers at Canalys and NPD reveal that Google Android secured a sizeable 43.6 percent of the U.S. smartphone market during the third quarter, trumping the 26.2 percent attributed to the iOS platform used in Apple’s iPhone.

However, despite the continued momentum of Google’s mobile operating system via the support of a whole host of different handset manufacturers, the iPhone still leads the way where the appeal of individual smartphone devices is concerned.

During the third quarter, a total of 20.9 million smartphone devices were shipped throughout America, with a whopping 5.5 million units attributed to the iPhone alone.

By comparison, the number of shipped Android phones totalled 9.1 million, while Research In Motion (RIM) shipped 5.1 million units from its BlackBerry line (for 24.3 percent of the market). Interestingly, the quarter saw Microsoft managing to shift only 600,000 Windows Mobile smartphones. 

“Much of Android’s quarterly share growth came at the expense of RIM, rather than Apple,” pointed out NPD Group’s Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis. “The HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X, and other new high-end Android devices have been gaining momentum at carriers that traditionally have been strong RIM distributors, and the recent introduction of the BlackBerry Torch has done little to stem the tide.”

Throwing more wood on the Android fire, a report from Canalys revealed that Android’s worldwide adoption rate is off-the-chart, with Google’s mobile OS posting year-on-year growth of 1,309 percent. During Q3 of 2009, Android shipments stood at 1.4 million units; 12 months later they have risen to in excess of 20 million.   

“Android has been well received by the market and in some geographies it is becoming a sought-after consumer brand,” said Canalys senior analyst Peter Cunningham. “It has rapidly become the platform to watch, and its growing volumes will help it entice developers, ensuring consumers have access to an increasingly rich and vibrant content and application system.”

The top-five smartphone performers during Q3, according to NPD, were Apple’s iPhone 4, RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 85xx, LG’s Cosmos, Motorola’s Droid X and HTC’s EVO 4G.

Around the Web