Android steps up pace in mobile market share grab
Google’s Android mobile OS finally overtakes Apple’s iOS in new purchases, figures gathered before release of iPhone 4 show
Google’s Andoid mobile operating system has continued its growth in US market share, according to new figures, with a continued drop for Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and waning loyalty among BlackBerry owners.
Apple’s iPhone remained the most desired smartphone on the US market in the second quarter of 2010, Nielsen figures gathered before the release of the iPhone 4 show.
But it’s three cheers for Google as the increasingly popular (among consumers as well as manufacturers) operating system continues an upward trajectory on both sides of the Atlantic. Retail watcher Gfk said last week that UK sales of mobiles running Android had risen by more than 300% this year.
It would, of course, have been more newsworthy for Android to have dropped in market share, given the scope of devices and operators it caters to. The chart of US smartphone subscribers in the first half of 2010, below, shows a steep incline for Android adoption.
Towards the end of June, Android nosed ahead of Apple’s iOS as most-adopted operating system in the US smartphone market – but these figures take in only a week of iPhone 4 sales.
Among US owners of a BlackBerry, 57% are planning to abandon the smartphone and opt for a different operating system, quarter two figures show. The news puts added importance on RIM’s press conference today, with the expected launch of the BlackBerry 9800, thought to have both a touchscreen and a slide-out qwerty keyboard.
