The Android vs. iPhone battle got more entertaining as the Android underdog phone outsold the Apple iPhone in first quarter 2010. Although Android may have won one battle, Apple continues to win the war. Over the Android, the iPhone has a lead in total smartphone sales. Blackberry, of course, dominates the field. The Android market is going up while the iPhone and Blackberry markets plummet. Some analysts think those trends will continue, allowing the Android phone to tighten the iPhone vs. Android margin.
iPhone vs. Android milestone
The Android vs. iPhone hit a milestone when the Android caught 28 percent of smartphone sales last quarter reports the NPD group. NPD reports that Apple’s iPhone won 21 percent of smartphone sales, when Research in Motion’s Blackberry took 36 percent. According to ComScore, a digital market research firm, a key stat in Android vs. iPhone is that Google’s Android operating system had only nine percent of the market as of February 2010, in contrast to the 25.4 percent of the iPhone.
Gains for Android, others falter
In winning the latest round of iPhone vs. Droid, PC World reports that Google’s OS is the only smartphone OS whose share of sales grew over the previous quarter. The iPhone, meanwhile, is flat, when Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and WebOS quarterly sales shares are falling like a mortgage loan modification. If this trend continues on like this, PC World’s J.R. Raphael said Android will catch up to its competitors for total market share in a hurry.
How did Android beat iPhone?
Android phone sales may have beaten Apple’s iPhone, as outlined by the Los Angeles Times, because of Google’s freewheeling partnering tactics that have gotten the Android operating system onto as many phones, served by as many wireless carriers, as possible. There are now more than 30 Android-powered devices from 12 equipment manufacturers. These devices include T-mobile, Verizon, AT and T, and Sprint.
Is iPhone Verizon on the horizon?
The much speculated iPhone Verizon offering looms larger as Google wins the latest round of the iPhone vs. Droid scuffle. Apple is tied to AT and T in an exclusive partnership in what may be a saturated market. An analyst with Technology Business Research, Ezra Gottheil, told Computerworld, “That’s your classic technology acquisition curve. Of those in the U.S. who are interested in an iPhone and willing to put up with AT and T, quite much all have already bought one. What’s left for Apple — as long as it is tied to AT and T in its exclusive partnership — is largely the iPhone replacement market”.
iPhone worldwide soars
It is expected that iPhone Verizon is going to happen within the US, but Apple isn't saying when. Apple is continuing the iPhone vs. Droid matchup everywhere else. Last month Apple announced Worldwide iPhone sales were up 131 percent within the first quarter compared to the exact same three-month stretch in 2009.
Sources
NPD reports
http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_100510.html
PC World
http://www.pcworld.com/article/195958/android_outsells_apple_iphone_at_last_says_npd.html
Los Angeles Times
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/05/google-android-overtakes-iphone-npd-research.html
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