Android Outsells iPhone In Last 6 Months 514
tomhudson writes "Despite all the hype about Apple's latest iPhone, Android has sold more in the last 6 months (27% of all smartphone sales) than Apple (23%). The gains for Android are coming at the expense of RIM (still #1 at 33%, down from 45% a year ago), Windows Mobile (11%, down from 20%) and the iPhone (down from 34% at it's peak 6 months ago). If the current trend continues, Android is expected to be #1 within the year."
Already #1 in the US market (Score:5, Informative)
I wonder how much of this you can blame on AT& (Score:4, Informative)
Or rather, the exclusivity deal between AT&T and Apple.
Anecdote: I had lunch over the weekend with a friend who lives in a part of the country that AT&T doesn't cover at all. He and his wife had seen other peoples' iPhones while travelling outside of that area, and all things being equal, would have preferred to buy iPhones, but couldn't. (Yes, they could have bought one someplace else, sucking up a useless contract, jailbreaking, etc., but come on -- that's not a real option for most people.) They ended up getting Android phones instead.
AT&T's commercials assert that it covers 97% of Americans, but if you live in or spend much time in one of the areas (more than 3% of the map) it doesn't cover, the iPhone loses by default even if Apple's marketing is successful.
Re:Curious... (Score:2, Informative)
Every culture has their sellouts.
problems with data (Score:1, Informative)
There is a bunch of problems with the title. The data is talking about NEW subscribers only, and has no iPhone4 data. Now people whom when from an iPhone to an iPhone, nor people whom bought an iPhone4. Apple is selling more iPhone4s alone then the iPhone and Androids in this review COMBINED.
Re:I wonder how much of this you can blame on AT&a (Score:3, Informative)
Quite a bit more than 3%; size of the map area not served doesn't follow anywhere near that close the percentage of population served.
Re:Yawn... (Score:5, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IPhone_sales_per_quarter_simple.svg [wikipedia.org]
Yep, the market really cooled off in Q1/Q2 in bated anticipation...
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:5, Informative)
Eh? Android does support ActiveSync. It just that prior to 2.2, it didn't enforce all the corporate security policies of ActiveSync. See Feature Enhancement Request 4475 [google.com] and see this article [informationweek.com] for a summary of related changes in 2.2.
2.2 seems to address most of the password/security policy issues with ActiveSync. I have 2.2 running on my Nexus One, but don't use Exchange server, so can't comment here.
For Droid owners, the update to 2.2 is supposed to come out officially this week [androidcommunity.com], though I'm pretty sure there are unofficial 2.2 ROMs out there already. So basically, what you are talking about is no longer an issue, or at least not a particularly significant one.
Re:What are you smoking? (Score:3, Informative)
It's not just a phone. It is determining how portable device will be used by the mainstream. Locked down, or open? The ability to load your own music and ring tones, and app, or only loading what you are allowed ..at a price, of course.
Uh what android devices are as free as you claim? Last I heard you have to wait for someone to "jailbreak"/root the android device to be able to do what you want with it. This "android is open and free" is a load of bull. Motorola phones are all locked up so are HTCs. I also heard many Android devices, just like iPhone, has apps you can't even remove by the user. Yes, that doesnt sound very open to me.
Sounds like you've never seen an Android either. Rooting an Android device is just unlocking the firmware. Software is still open as is much of the layout. You can install any program you want for the Android regardless if it came from the Market Place or the internet (and I've done that before). While some of the core applications that came on the phone are uninstallable by default, most of them never run unless you open them so its not as much of an issue as you seem to make it out to be. I can also change ringtones and other sound effects to what I want. Something the iPhone won't let you do by default.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:3, Informative)
Obviously we're trading anecdotes here, but I've yet to encounter a business iPhone.
I work with a 35 employee Photo Studio / Equipment retailer they are 100% iPhone users. I don't guess I know what you mean by "Business" iPhone, but by my definition those phones are all "business" iPhones. The manage communications, scheduling, billing, etceteras on their phones, communication with the corporate servers, the production system for the service bureau, and the sales and delivery systems. I can't imagine what else they'd need the iPhone to do to get labeled as a "business" class phone, or what the Blackberry would do that the iPhone fails at.
Re:Both are locked down to the mainstream (Score:2, Informative)
By the way, I would also say "the mainstream" does not really want or require to root the phone. You should not confuse its demand to run the applications it wants with the need or competence to deal with OS-level problems. Sure, they want OS updates (without particular modifications, just what's required to run new applications and such), but any decent vendor will provide it with the standard Android updates. You'd have to have a large and illegal conspiracy of vendors not to compete with software updates for this to be otherwise.
Re:Yawn... (Score:2, Informative)
Yawn... These are sales from January to June - before the iPhone 4 was released. People were intentionally holding off purchases because they knew iPhone 4 was coming out. Wake me up if they outsell iPhones for the next 6 months.
uhhh, iphone 4 sold 3 million in the first 21 days of being released (so about 143k per day). Google claims that during that same time they were activating over 160k per day. So the peak of the iphone 4 buying craze already came and left and android phones were still outselling them.
http://www.androidpit.com/en/android/blog/392465/Android-Market-Reaches-65K-Apps-160K-Activations-Per-Day
Re:A couple things (Score:4, Informative)
So what is the right statistic for Android owners? The honest answer is that we don’t know. You’ll note in the excerpt above, we were careful to say “Google-branded Android phone owners”.
The numbers actually ended up being that 77% of iPhone owners intend to purchase another iPhone for their next phone, one third of ALL smartphone owners plan to buy iPhones for their next phones, 36% of Google-branded Android owners (e.g. Nexus One) plan to buy an iPhone for their next, and 32% of Google-branded Android owners plan to buy an Android for their next phone.
Symbian and RIM growing faster than Apple (Score:3, Informative)
I understand that Nokia makes some excellent hardware, but with the explosion in popularity of Android and iOS, it seems we have two winning platforms here, and it's almost too late for anyone else to catch up. RIM had something good going, but they're losing out big time.
The market data disagrees with you. Even on current sales, Nokia are still number one, with RIM number two. In the US, Nokia have no presence (and they never have, so this wasn't them losing out to the Iphones or Android), but RIM are still number one.
"Ah, but Symbian and Blackberry are becoming less popular, with Android and Iphone catching up, right?" you'll cry.
No. Looking at percentages of market share is very misleading, as the smartphone market is increasing (or rather, the number of phones arbitrary defined as "smartphones" is increasing). From the article, you'd think that Symbian is falling. But actually, the number of sales is still increasing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10839034 [bbc.co.uk]
"Ah, so they're still increasing, but Android and Iphones are increasing faster, right?" you'll say.
For Android yes, but for Apple, no. Again this is a statistical quirk, due to looking at percentage change rather than actual sales, thus penalising the larger players. The BBC love to spin things in favour of Apple, but here's the actual increases from Q2 2009 to Q2 2010.
Android 9,605,050
Symbian 7,950,430
RIM 3,272,880
Apple 3,200,350
Others 607,210
Microsoft -348,320
Total 24,287,600
So, Android are still top, but Apple are actually fourth! So worldwide, I'd say it's all about Symbian and Android, with RIM perhaps holding out, and Apple stagnating in fourth place. In the US, it'll be between RIM and Android, with it being likely that Android will win out on top, but again with Apple lagging, this time at third place.
I've been on a blackberry for three years and recently switched to the Android platform. Nearly everyone I know is ditching their blackberries for iPhones or Android phones when their contracts are up
I'd prefer actual evidence over anecdotes. Aside from anecdotes being poor evidence, one factor is that there's something about Iphone users that makes them have to tell everyone "I've just got an Iphone!" And then everytime they use it, it's "I'm doing X on my Iphone". Android users do this to a lesser degree. Other people just use their phone. I once even had some strangers in the pub butt into our conversation about Android, to brag "Oh, we've got Iphones".
People love apps, and it looks like most developers are focused on these two platforms.
Actually it's often just a focus on Apple. Yes, it is indeed frustrating that companies, including public funded organisations (in the UK, the BBC and the Government) seem intent on focusing on what is the fourth most popular smartphone, and only covering about 3% of the phone owning market (there's an uproar when people only develop for Windows, but at least that has 90+% market share!), and when they do consider something else, it's most likely to be Android whilst the two most popular platforms are forgotten.
However, despite all the astroturfing for Apple by companies writing their apps, and in the media, this has yet to help them in terms of sales. Also, it's not clear that Apple do have a larger number of apps overall (most claims only look at central app store sales), plus, even if there are more than quantity, who cares about thousands of different fart apps? There's still plenty of apps for Symbian at least, and the only thing that I thought was cool that I can't get is the Google Sky Map, which isn't available on Apple either (plus it's not something that's really useful, unless you're actually an astronomer, which most people aren't).
Re:Higher demand after iPhone 4 release in Q3 (Score:3, Informative)
The rest of us don't. We just care about how it directly effects us. We don't give a shit that we can't run some one elses hacked together copy of the OS, the one that came with it works just fine for what we want to do with it. ... I do expect my phone to be 'open' but my definition is rational, yours is fanatical
You're putting words in my mouth. That, or trying to construct a strawman. I suspect the latter, since you seem to be addressing not me specifically, but the "averaged" take on iOS openness on Slashdot, which is rather meaningless as it comes from different people with different backgrounds and outlooks on life.
Now, personally, I'm not a Stallman adherent. I don't care about openness as an abstract value, in and of itself. I do care when it practically limits what I want to do with my phone.
Example #1: my N1 has an IRC client on it, which can run in background. I purchased it on the Market, and use it regularly. Such a thing is impossible to implement on iPhone.
Example #2: that same phone has an ICQ/MSN/AIM/Jabber client that also runs in background, and does not connect through any intermediate server (exposing my credentials to the company behind it). Again, it's not doable on iPhone.
Example #3: my phone has an SSH daemon running on it. Yes, in background. Should it ever be stolen, this might prove very handy.
There are quite a few more. All of them have to do with practical limitations that iPhone would have where my Android phone does not.
(As a side note, all examples above are for a non-rooted phone, and all apps are obtained from the Android Market - no manual installation of third-party APKs. Definitely no custom ROMs etc.)
Are they geeky examples? Undoubtedly, yes. Not many people want an SSH daemon on their phone. But I do, which is why I care.
The reality is, most of us, as adults, don't have time to dick around hacking our phones to do silly shit with half assed broken software from someone else. Most of us have lives. Families to feed and jobs to keep.
So basically you say that you're a geek, except that you're not because you no longer have time or desire to do things that actually make one a geek. So you're not really a geek.
Which is perfectly fine, most people aren't, and they're not any worse for it. It doesn't make one any better or worse.
But, please don't pretend to speak for that of which you're clearly not a part.
The 'openness' you talk about is a new privilege you think of as a right. You are simply wrong. It isn't a right, its a privilege. You do not have a right to tell Apple (or anyone else) what to do with their products. You do have the right to ignore their products, and thats good for you.
I absolutely have a right to tell Apple (or anyone else) what I think about them being an ass towards myself and others, however; and I - and many others - happily exercise that right on Slashdot.
This goes equally well for many other companies, by the way.