Posted on 04/02/2011 5:13:40 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Google's Android OS has gained an astonishing 7 points of market share in the US smartphone market in the past three months, Comscore says.
RIM's market share over the same period collapsed, dropping almost 5 points.
Apple's share increased slightly, but is dead in the water and has now fallen way behind Android. Android now has a third of the US market (33%). RIM's share has plummeted to 29%. Apple is holding at 25%. In the "also ran" category, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 did nothing to stop its decline, which fell from 9% to 7.7%. And Palm, which is barely worth mentioning anymore, fell another point to 2.8%.
Why do the Android gains matter? Are Apple bulls right that Apple has an insurmountable hold on the "premium" segment of the market and that it doesn't matter who has the other 75%?
The Android gains matter because technology platform markets tend to standardize around a single dominant platform (see Windows in PCs, Facebook in social, Google in search). And the more dominant the platform becomes, the more valuable it becomes and the harder it becomes to dislodge. The network effect kicks in, and developers building products designed to work with the platform devote more and more of their energy to the platform. The reward for building and working with other platforms, meanwhile, drops, and gradually developers stop developing for them
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Linux on the desktop? LOL. Now, Linux on the smartphone...that’s a totally different story.
Which is considered the most developer friendly? Speed in developing cutting edge apps?
I just bought the Android 2.2 HTC Insight 4G. The 8MB Ram, 1ghz cpu, flashplayer 10.1 on that thing delivers the best H264 high-def video I have ever seen, and the cpu problems with flashplayer are GONE now. 8mpixel HD camera with a flash the brightness of the sun, with HD VIdeo recording / playback.
My wife dropped her IPhone like a bad habit. I suspect my youngest son will want one now too.
99 bucks. Not bad, Google - not bad at all.
From now on, companies hoping to receive early access to Google’s most up-to-date software will need approval of their plans. And they will seek that approval from Andy Rubin, the head of Google’s Android group. Businessweek
Motorola Mobility has hired a number of experienced mobile and Web engineers from Apple and Adobe and is developing a Web-based mobile operating system as a possible alternative to Google’s Android software, according to a source familiar with the matter. InformationWeek
It's interesting that Apple's marketshare is so large for having so few handset models: iPhone 4 and iPhone 3gs.
This is a kind of lame analysis. RIM and Apple make “products”. That is, hardware, software, service etc.
Android is an operating system -not a product. It is used by any manufacturer that wishes to use it. Android could accurately be described as the mobile OS for everyone that is not RIM or Apple. It seems that the market is much more likely to solidify in thirds with RIM, and Apple,holding close to a third, and everybody else sharing the balance using Android.
Iphone and Blackberry have fairly decent market segmentation. Blackberry is a tool used to do work, Iphone is a fashion accessory used to look very very cool.
Fame away appleheads...
That’s going to change a lot of how quickly new handsets will be coming to market.
If you develop for one phone, you have to port it to another phone.
Developing Java is a lot simpler than developing in IOS. Objective C is like stone age.
But that doesn’t matter as Windows 7 has the best development environment bar none.
The best thing I ever did was to replace my Blackberry with the Droid-X.
The OS or even the hardware platform isn’t the critical factor - smart engineers will innovate and continually improve both. Apple’s biggest contribution was the overall business model, which combined innovative yet solid hardware and software development environment with a back-office that made it simple and easy for non-techie users to customize their devices to their hearts desire. The rapid adoption of the product created an instant market for software apps and more software apps solidified the market position of the product - an extremely virtuous cycle.
Now the problem is - Apple has schooled its competitors and while they still have a large base they no longer are unique. Once a feature or benefit becomes commonplace it turns into a commodity and no longer enables a company to demand a premium for it. And competing on the basis of price is not something Apple is good at.
Amen!
Funny, I can still build my own PCs, but I’m happy (so far) as a mobile phone caveman.
I like my Nokia 6085 so much that I’ve bought replacements twice on eBay since it’s not being made.
In my defense, I have an office at home, so I don’t need much when I’m away.
I use:
phone
alarm clock
voice mail
calendar
timer
Turned off the net and texting. I could use texting on rare occasions, but not enough to be bothered.
No “fame”. I’ve used windows Mac OS is better.
Used Droid, iPhone 4 (iOS) is better.
Okay so I can upgrade my phone this month and I want to get either a phone with the android os or an Iphone...what, really, is the best? Or are they comparable?
As long as you don’t mind every single thing you do and where you do it tracked and shared with this WH...you are all set with android!
Google is pulling the Android OS out of open source...gee I can’t imagine why Google would want to do this...
Google is evil and if you buy their products you are helping people that want to destroy America.
Sooner or later Conservatives are going to have to stick togther and stop enabling our enemies.
I’d recommend the iPhone.
1. I don’t trust Google. 2. android.process.acore has stopped unexpectedly errors which force you to hard reset (and wipe) your device.
No, really. Finally we have competition in operating systems. Wish it had happened 30 years earlier on x86.
Honestly, I’d wait a few months either way. If you’re on Verizon, the first LTE (”4G”) phones are currently rolling out, but there are bound to be problems in the first gen, and I think the second gen will have a lot more to offer (this summer/fall). A good LTE phone to look at is the Droid Bionic (coming summer).
If you want an iPhone, the current gen (iPhone 4) is nearly a year old and is due for a refresh either this summer (if their yearly schedule continues) or this fall/winter (if the rumors hold).
The Android OS will be hard to get away from open source as it is nothing but a copy of various UNIX OSs. Open it up and look inside at the non-free blobs still there still signed.
Me too! Course my failing 49 year old eyes steered me away from the Blackberry buttons!!!!!
Android is and will continue to be open source, Google is just delaying the release of the source code on some revisions. Technically, if they don’t release the source code they will be in violation of some licenses.
I honestly don’t know why people think Apple - a company that repeatedly has aligned itself with liberal causes and routinely pulls apps from their app store that violate their ideology - is any better than Google. Hell, it’s not like iOS was ever even open source to begin with.
RIMs latest BlackBerry playbook uses a QNX based OS, and rumor has it that their next phone OS will have the same roots. I am typing this reply on my BlackBerry Bold 9650, which is a great smartphone, but I will admit that I have a jones for an HTC Thunderbolt.
Left out Open Source blobs thats in there still signed.
You may be correct, but Apple has proven to be as in bed with evil as Google.
Umgud,
What BB did you have and why do you like the HTC so much better? I have a BB Torch and love it. It just works. Touch screen and keyboard 32 gig worth of sd ram. Corprate email server.
I dont have much experience with Apple but from what I have seen it is UNIX thru and thru the olb IBM Unix I think
. The only reason Mac is not open source is Apple has enough money to attack anyone who says anything,it will be the same with Google.
I think Google has said it was going to release source code a 100 times already so I am with you on that!
courtesy ping...mobile phone technology and all that
“I honestly don’t know why people think Apple - a company that repeatedly has aligned itself with liberal causes and routinely pulls apps from their app store that violate their ideology - is any better than Google.”
Apple is maintaining some level of quality control with iOS apps. Many of the standards, such as no porn, should find some support here on FR. I have some problems with their guidelines, but overall they’re proving very successful.
Google, on the other hand, seems to be hellbent on ending privacy as a concept. I have a BIG problem with that.
“Hell, it’s not like iOS was ever even open source to begin with.”
Major portions are. Check out this list from MacOS 10.6.7, and bear in mind that most of iOS (except for the UI layer) are the same as MacOS.
http://opensource.apple.com/release/mac-os-x-1067/
I’d buy a Google product right after I buy a Huffington Post subscription .
I had the BB Tour and replaced it with the Droid-X, not the HTC. The X has about the biggest screen I could find for my wore out eyes.
I found the X less complicated and more user friendly. BB beats it on some biz apps. I might be happy with a new touch screen BB, but they didn't have them when I made the switch.
I use mine as a phone, email is great and downloading is a snap (pdf's, MS Office docs, etc.). Good browser and I can actually surf FR on it.
I adore my Dx!!!!
That screen cap is either a hoax or Verizon is oddly disdainful of a large cross section of their customers.
You’ve been taken in, imho.
And why is that? Perhaps you should take that up with Verizon since it came from one of their employees.
iPhone? No keyboard, no sale. Regardless of OS, at least there are phones running Android that have actual slide-out keyboards. So per my important feature list, they win, and stupid touch screen iPhones lose.
Ah ha! Your correct. Buddy who sent the link just said it was a hoax- April Fools! Bummer. Still can’t wait for the Bionic though!!
Um. you’re correct. AHEM.
I’m an Apple guy and a Verizon customer myself. Nice to know someone internal to Verizon holds me in such low regard.
You know, posting that thing might just cause your buddy some problems, EXIF data and all that. Might not have been the smartest thing to do.
BTW, real stuff like this is leaked all the time. If you know the right blogs, you can get advanced information on any techs, including Apple.
“Apple’s share increased slightly, but is dead in the water and has now fallen way behind Android. Android now has a third of the US market (33%). ... Apple is holding at 25%.”
Huh? One company is dead in the water when that ONE company holds a full quarter of the market and is growing? vs. taking dozens of companies ganging up to get a mere - considering dozens ganging up on one - one third of the market? On top of that, it’s been near a year since that one company refreshed the product that holds one full quarter of the whole market! That’s not dead in the water, that’s kicking ass.
Odd that it got yanked so quickly, then.
No worries though, I saved a copy of iphone-4-v-bionic.jpg.
So, your buddy doesn’t work at Verizon now? This is all very curious.
Wear tinfoil much? Wow. Tell me where I said my buddy worked at Verizon?
Look at HTC Evo Shift, which has keyboard, is Android, has virtually all the features of the original Evo.
SOURCE: phandroid
And the latest iP5 news regarding delays due to the Japan earthquake
Agreed. That Shift 4G looks very nice. I’m used to my touch keyboard now, esp. since SwiftKey was free in Amazon’s new App Store. I swear it reads my mind and knows what I’ll type next.
... buddy who sent the link
Between these two responses of yours, it's reasonable to conclude that your buddy is employed by Verizon.
The creator of this hoax screen cap certainly has a Verizon insider perspective or is straining very hard to create that impression.
Things are about to get even testier when it comes to the battle between good and evil. Our friends at Verizon just shot over this document which appears to detail a dual-mega-launch of epic proportions. How does a June 9th launch of both the DROID BIONIC and iPhone 5 sound?
There are Verizon insider tips all over the web when it comes to phones. Heck, even Motorola let stuff 'slip' about $200 off a Xoom with a special code.
I’m not particularly intrigued by any purported iPhone 5 information being “leaked,” especially by a third-rate Droid fanboi blog on Wordpress.
I am intrigued, however, with the apparent disdain shown for Apple customers by an individual described by you as a Verizon employee.
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