RIM could be next.
Posted on 05/10/2010 11:24:56 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
* Google's Android OS in 28 pct of U.S. smartphones in Q1
* Apple U.S. iPhone share 21 pct in Q1
* Research in Motion retains No. 1 rank with 36 pct share
SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O) displaced iPhone maker Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to become the second most popular provider of smartphone software in the United States during the first quarter, the latest sign of the increasing competition in the fast-growing mobile market.
Smartphones featuring Google's Android operating system accounted for 28 percent of U.S. smartphone unit sales in the first quarter according to NPD Group, behind top-ranked Research in Motion (RIM.TO), maker of the Blackberry phone, which had a 36 percent share of the market.
Smartphones, which allow consumers to surf the web, send email and run specialized applications on wide, color screens, are increasingly replacing no-frills cell phones for many U.S. consumers.
The devices have become a prime battleground for a variety of tech companies seeking to ensure a good position in the evolving market.
Last month, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ.N) said it would pay $1.2 billion to acquire Palm Inc (PALM.O), which sells two smartphone models based on its WebOS operating system. Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), whose Windows operating system is used in the majority of the world's PCs, unveiled a pair of smartphones last month and recently launched a revamped version of its mobile operating system.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
DDRROOOOOOIDDDD
Tried both side by side downloading large attachments in emails. Downloading web content. Droid was by far faster and it’s open source OS makes it much easier and more competitive for apps.
Iphones dont work very well with my companies networks and servers. Droid was much easier to synch with my office computer.
The phone also has a real keyboard not virtual like Iphone.
So will we see a Droid version of the iPad?
2 weeks into my Blackberry 9700 and loving it.
Well Android is just about to get the amazing HTC Incredible and the HTC Desire and the HTC EVO 4G. Those 3 phones are going to send Android's market share rocketing even higher. Even the HTC HD2 on WinMo 6.5 has been selling like hot cakes since release in March.
There will be lots of Droid tablet computers in the coming weeks. They just won’t be called iPad’s.
Well there are a lot more phones to choose from for starters. Oh and you don’t have to be on AT & T’s service.
It’s inevitable that Google will win it’s smartphone war against Apple. Phone manufaturers like free and Android is free.
Woohoo! Go DROID!
Probably not. I think Apple has a copyright on devices that combine totally cool and completely useless. And either way, they seems to be the only company that can sell completely useless products and still make a profit.
In the long run, I believe this is the end of the iPhone as a dominant platform, and it will settle into the 10-15% market typical for Apple: the land of die-hard fanboiz who're willing to pay 25-50% more for hardware than it's actually worth. There are millions more C#, C++, and Java developers than there are Objective-C coders, and those developers are going to code for 'Droid first from now on, using the tools they're familiar with, then try to retrofit to the 90's toolset (IB and Objective-C) that Apple provides as an afterthought. Amusingly, Apple isn't even capable of compiling the code it dictates developers must use: the compiler is gcc.
Apple's lock-down-control-everything approach has been challenged by an open source platform once before: in the early 1980's. Apple's fail in that case is the most epic of all time: they went from market domination to "who dey?" in the space of months. Job's learned nothing and now they are going to lose again. Ironically, the only thing that really saved Apple from complete destruction in the 90's for their fascist business practices was Adobe. Now little Stevie Hitler has alienated them, too. If the FTC, SEC, or DOJ do not take action against iEvil, Adobe will.
I'm sure the fanboiz will be arriving shortly to flame away. All I can say is, I make a great living off Apple, but now that it's fallen to No. 3, I'll be making even more money from 'Droid.
Well put.
No doubt a charecteristic of the paticular phone rather than a deficiency of the OS.
The iPad: Proving once again that Barnum probably underestimated.
Good for you.
That's what the free market economy is all about.
Yup.
Phone makers don't have to spend money developing their own OS either, which cuts down on their costs. Google was smart on making Android free, so they can make money off Google mobile web instead. Microsoft would be wise to make Window Phone 7 free as well (and make money off mobile Bing) or they'll be history in the smart phone business.
According to the MSheeple who obsess on trashing Mac threads here on FR, the Droid's sole advantage is it is not from Apple...
Let Apple be complacent to their own detriment, because only the paranoid survive. I don't believe in the ipad's claim as a game changer, but if it is, Android will easily steal this boutique niche, too.
LOL ... you got that right ... :-)
Wait until they mount an iPad on a Segway - the Universe will never be the same again!!
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