Is Android unstoppable?

Unwired ^ | 03 Aug 10 | Vlad Bobleanta

[SmokingJoe]

What the numbers say

Android’s market share grew by an amazing 886% in the second quarter of 2010 compared to the second quarter of 2009. And as exciting as that sounds, it was pretty much to be expected. Back in Q2 2009 Android had 2.8% of the smartphone market. You can only go up from such a measly number, basically.

This time last year, Android was on just over a million of the handsets sold. And almost all of those sales were made up by the HTC Dream/G1. Android 1.5 was released during that second quarter of 2009, but by the end of June only two devices were running the new OS version, the Samsung i7500 Galaxy and the HTC Magic. Arguably, neither Android 1.0 nor Android 1.5 were anything close to final, stable versions of the OS despite their numbering. It was only with 1.6 that came out in September last year, when the OS started to look good enough for mass adoption, and that’s when many new devices started to show up, and Android’s growth rate started surging.

Today, Android is only 0.9% away from RIM’s BlackBerry OS, and if the current trends continue, will overtake it in Q3. Which is not a small achievement by any standard. RIM’s OS was holding that second position since Windows Mobile started to go down a long, long time ago (in mobile device years, anyway).

We’ve clearly not seen the peak of the Android platform yet. How much it can still grow from this point on is anybody’s guess, but it has absolutely grown up this year. My guess is that it won’t peak in 2010.

[A_Former_Democrat]

VERY helpful, Rachel, thanks! Also thanks to Buddah! I know just enough about these things to be dangerous lol

I was leaning towards iPhone due to my tendency towards “name” brands for electronics and being ATT customer already. Plus, I’ve been pretty happy with my iPod.

[antiRepublicrat]

I’m a sci-fi fan, so in the early 70s I’d be thinking words like android (Westworld), service robots (Silent Running), andromeda (Andromeda Strain), OMM and SEN (THX-1138), the concept of a computer virus (again Westworld) and new meanings for the words “book” and “furniture” (Soylent Green).

[SmokingJoe]

Apple sold Apple Sold 8.4M iPhones in Q2 2010.
http://www.iphonekiller.com/apple-sold-8-4m-iphones-in-q2-2010/

Meanwhile, over 160,000 Androids are being sold every single day, and that was even before the Droid X was launched.
http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/23/160000-android-phones-sold-per-day/

That gives ya a massive 14.4 million Android's sold per quarter, easily trumping iPhone sales. And that is just for starters.

[antiRepublicrat]

At this rate, Androids would have left the iPhones far, far behind by this time next year.

As market share grows larger, huge percentage growth becomes more difficult (if Android were 10%, there's no way it's jumping to 90% in a quarter).

That “one company” has plenty of carriers all over the world, including Korea and a gargantuan cell phone company China.

The iPhone 4 was only available in America for those few days it was on sale during 2Q, another reason why the 2Q number is unusually low. Thanks for reminding me. Conversely, many Android phones (Hero, Cliq, Galaxy S, etc.) are released overseas before they are released here.

[RachelFaith]

Joe, you are comparing Apples to Grapes!

An iPhone is one product made by one company on one platform for one carrier.

Droid is NOT a product it is just an OS. Google doesn’t even SELL it, they make their money off the Ads the pop up on your phone.

Google doesn’t make the phones, DOZENS of phone makers Make the phones. All kinds of phones. And many of them run the Droid OS.

But you are counting OS market share NOT any particular PRODUCT like the iPhone’s marketshare.

If Google was giving away an OS to every carrier that exists, and wasn’t able to top Apple’s one product, on one carrier, I would be WORRIED about them.

But this comparison is like saying how many Cadillac Escalades were sold vs how many Bus Passes were given away.

Mostly an irrelevant set of data.

[SmokingJoe]

As market share grows larger, huge percentage growth becomes more difficult (if Android were 10%, there's no way it's jumping to 90% in a quarter).

Android doesn't have to hit 90% to leave the iPhone far, far behind. That 90% figure is all your own, not mine.

“The iPhone 4 was only available in America for those few days it was on sale during 2Q, another reason why the 2Q number is unusually low. “

These figures are WORLDWIDE figures. Apple has PLENTY of carriers worldwide, not just one carrier like you claimed in your post. The iPhone is getting clobbered by the Androids in market share anyways.

“Conversely, many Android phones (Hero, Cliq, Galaxy S, etc.) are released overseas before they are released here.”

And Canalys made it clear that the US is still by far the biggest smartphone market on the planet, far outpacing China in smartphoine sales. Plus hot selling Android phones like the Droid X came out in rthe US after the end of Q2

[SmokingJoe]

Joe, you are comparing Apples to Grapes!

Naaaah.
You are coming up with the same discredted excuses that the Applebots drag up whenever Apple is getting clobbered in market share in any market.
Nothing new here. We have been hearing the same crap whenever Windows PC's clobber the Aple mac in IDC/Dataquest market share figures.

“An iPhone is one product made by one company on one platform for one carrier.”

The iPhone is carried by a huge number of carriers across the world, including cell phone companies in Korea and China. These are worldwide figures. Stop spewing out garbage.

“Droid is NOT a product it is just an OS. “

An OS is not a product?
Since when?
How ,any OS’s have you written?

“Google doesn’t even SELL it, they make their money off the Ads the pop up on your phone.”

This article is about Andriod smartphone sales, not just OS sales. Read it. Then you can comment, ok?

“But you are counting OS market share NOT any particular PRODUCT like the iPhone’s marketshare”

This article based on figures from Canalys, is counting Android smartphone sales, not Android OS sales. These are physical smartphones. Get it?

“If Google was giving away an OS to every carrier that exists, and wasn’t able to top Apple’s one product, on one carrier, I would be WORRIED about them.”

Androids are clobbering the iPhones in market share. Read the figures.

“But this comparison is like saying how many Cadillac Escalades were sold vs how many Bus Passes were given away”

Umm..no.
Andrid smartphnes are selling at the same $200 as iPhones are. No Andriod smartphoines are being given away here. You gotta dip in your pocket and pay for the phones, same as you pay for the iPhones. Get it?
What more garbage you gotta spew out?

[Patton@Bastogne]

you left off: Wordstar and the guys that had that word processing PC-type platform ... can’t remember the name ... they were everywhere ...

[GreenLanternCorps]

I accidentally dropped mine into a vat of liquid nitrogen. I then pulled it out too fast and it shattered into a thousand pieces.

But then as the pieces melted they started to coalesce ...

Heve you seen this boy?

[TruthWillWin]

Just got a DroidX, love it. First smartphone. I’m posting this using swype.

[Cyber Liberty]

You may still have some hope on Palm after HP acquired Palm recently.

HP? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

[Cyber Liberty]

Apple, the first modern such phone, had to find a partner to believe in the risk, and take the loss. These phones are worth $700 but sold for a fraction, because the phone carrier want’s the contract. ATT has Apple under exclusive contract until the end of the year.

I must thank you, deeply and seriously, for putting that at the top of your post. You saved me so much time by stamping "fanboy" upon your own forehead for me, so I can go on and forget the rest of your post. Thank goodness for the "Page Down" key (an invention, apparently, of MS. Those keys aren't on this Mac).

Thank God for AT&T for giving BetaMax, ooops, I mean Apple a chance.

[RachelFaith]

Those keys are on MY Mac.

And it’s FANGRRL.

You lose.

[Cyber Liberty]

I lose? I’m sorry...did we have a bet, grrl? :^)

(I have a MacBook Pro. No page up or downs. Eh)

[antiRepublicrat]

Apple sold Apple Sold 8.4M iPhones in Q2 2010.

An abnormally low number as shown. To be rectified this Q.

Meanwhile, over 160,000 Androids are being sold every single day, and that was even before the Droid X was launched.

That's Android devices. Android is going into phones, tablets, media players and e-readers. Several dozen devices across all carriers, and none. iOS has three devices: iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. How many have those sold?

Still, using your numbers, several phone manufacturers across all carriers only managed to get less than double what one manufacturer got on one carrier. Not all that impressive.

[dangerdoc]

Before you make up your mind, try to get some hands on time with the phones.

Comparing iPhone 4 LCD and the new Samsung sAMOLED screens, I like the look of the sAMOLED screen better.

By next spring the 1 ghz A4 chip in the iPhone will be one of the slower CPUs.

I don’t doubt the iPhone 4 is engineered like a brick but it feels like one in my hand. There are more comfortable phones to use.

Nobody is screening the code in all iPhone apps. Apple has to remove apps from the market because they are doing things that Apple did not know about when they added it to the market. Google also removes suspicious apps. Thousands of viruses on Android is hyperbole. There is a web site that advertises that they can take over your iPhone, all you have to do is go their website and they will take over your phone adding software that allows you to bypass Apple restrictions. The question is how many websites are using the same hack? At this point I would not consider either phone secure.

Developers have more freedom to add function to a google phone than an iPhone.

And the selling points for me were I did not have to go back to AT&T and Android has free voice navigation. I would consider an iPhone if it weren’t tied to AT&t and had free voice nav.

I’m try not to be tied to my phones but if you have multiple lines to deal with, Google voice is pretty cool. You get a number that will ring to any or all phones you have. It will also transcribe voicemail and forward it to you as a text message. Not a selling point for me but my wife likes that feature.

If you have a provider you like, I would go down to their store and handle the various phones they have available, there are many very good ones out there.

[antiRepublicrat]

These figures are WORLDWIDE figures. Apple has PLENTY of carriers worldwide, not just one carrier like you claimed in your post.

The figures are worldwide, but for 2Q the iPhone 4 was only available in the US market, so only US sales could count. You are putting US-only sales of the iPhone 4 vs. worldwide sales of all Android phones.

And Canalys made it clear that the US is still by far the biggest smartphone market on the planet

Nokia is by far the world's largest smartphone maker, yet has very little of the US smartphone market. How? Because the US isn't the biggest market. What they sell outside of the US puts them on top worldwide.

[A_Former_Democrat]

Thanks, I really appreciate all the suggestions/comments. I will check out this Google Voice thing. I’m way too much of a novice to really make much of an informed decision on these things.