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."
After almost 20 years (Score:5, Insightful)
Turns out Linux doesn't suck and it is good for something mainstream after all. I still haven't seen the real "year of the Linux desktop" but Android has already given us a year of the Linux phone, and we barely even realized it.
Higher demand after iPhone 4 release in Q3 (Score:4, Insightful)
The numbers for the iPhone are of course going to reflect that the apple crowd has been holding off and waited for the new generation iPhone 4. The numbers for Q3 will be more interesting.
And then again, who cares, it's just a phone.
Not to trivialize these facts... (Score:4, Insightful)
If this trend continues... (Score:5, Insightful)
If this trend continues, Android will have 100% of the market in just over 8 years!
I love linear extrapolation.
Re:Higher demand after iPhone 4 release in Q3 (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:4, Insightful)
The smartphone market in the US is consequently just starting to get going. And it shouldn't be shocking that Android with it's increasingly diverse set of options would be overtaking the iPhone and it's limited selection.
Re:After almost 20 years (Score:1, Insightful)
None. That's the point. No one gives a shit that these run Linux or any other kernel. The only reason people want Android phones is due to the look of the phones and the GUI.
Re:Bring tha hate, bring tha noise! (Score:5, Insightful)
I am sorry, but this comparison is pretty crap.
RIM = 1 company
Apple = 1 company
Android = oodles of companies...
Its comparing apples to oranges here.
Of course you do see that Android is doing well. Something that I expected and it will continue. This is why I question RIM's, Microsoft's and Nokia's sanity of trying to go against either Apple or Android.
Though I wonder how long Android will do well. Here is the thing, people buy gadgets, but upgrade devices. With the iPhone 4 people upgraded. With RIM people upgraded. Nokia less so, and Android is an open question mark. I don't know either way and only time will tell.
Re:After almost 20 years (Score:3, Insightful)
People also buy phones because of the apps they can get for them.
Just like they buy a Windows PC not because they are Microsoft fans, but because there are apps they want that's available for Windows. Similar with Android devices; the chance of finding the apps you want is higher for Android than any other system, and this helps drive sales.
Re:Yawn... (Score:3, Insightful)
Not to mention that this is a comparison of a phone from a single company to a multitude of phones from a variety of companies. The fact that the iPhone holds it own so well with so few models against all the Android phones is quite a feat.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:4, Insightful)
Blackberry has what, 4 current lines. iPhone only has one, most of the time. There are numerous Android phones on every carrier, pretty much.
And even people who want the iPhone can't get the latest one without spending a month on a waiting list, or I think their numbers would be higher. (Though this applies to Android in some devices like the Droid X or the HTC EVO).
It's most telling that Palm is flatlining and Windows Mobile has lost half of its already meager market share in the past year.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:5, Insightful)
Notes:
- numbers are for new devices only (not total market share)
- does not include iPhone 4 - not a lot of people would buy an iPhone 3 in Q2 when new model was expected shortly
More interesting will be Q2 and Q3 totals combined when Q3 numbers are available. Then put BB6 and WP7 in the mix by year's end and it will get really interesting.
Both are locked down to the mainstream (Score:3, Insightful)
It's not just a phone. It is determining how portable device will be used by the mainstream. Locked down, or open?
To the mainstream, both devices are locked down. Android requires rooting for full openness, the iPhone requires jailbreaking.
Where you got confused is that the degree of open differs more significantly if you are a developer. But then you should not be confusing what is relevant to the mainstream, vs. the developer.
Re:Curious... (Score:2, Insightful)
Although your post is pretty much both content free and apropos of nothing, I'm glad you posted it! I was sitting here wondering what your view on Apple products was. Elaborating on why you feel "jailed" using BSD on a Mac or what you meant by "mindlessness and intolerance" or even what about Apple's ethics you disagree with would have really dilluted your thesis, so good call on leaving that part out.
Re:Wow. (Score:3, Insightful)
But the swarm of Android devices reminds me a little of the horde of Wintel PCs that swamped Apple's desktop offerings.
A little? The parallels are many. Apple has a platform that is considered the superior platform by many people. The problems with their platform are all based on how closed it is, either that they can't install what they want, or they can't use it how they want, or they have to use AT&T, etc. Other than the antenna issues, criticism for the iPhone isn't very technical, it's all usability issues related to the closed Apple system.
Contrast that with Android, which is designed to run on many different platforms with varying hardware. It might not be as shiny as the offering from Apple, but it's more flexible. This is exactly the scenario that allowed Microsoft to crush Apple with Windows, and if Apple isn't careful they're going to end up getting crushed again, this time by Google. Apple is just one company, they don't allow anyone else to sell their products. Anyone can license Android and build and sell a device that runs it. This is the same as the PC scenario, where it turned out to be Apple versus everyone else, where everyone else was selling the same competing product.
You'd think they would learn that more openness translates to more market penetration, but their mindset is so stuck on controlling the user experience that it seems like they're doomed to keep repeating history until consumers and businesses "evolve" to desire a more controlled experience. Even just licensing iOS to other vendors to allow them to create other devices powered by it would level the playing field, and I truly have no idea why they refuse to do that. It's all about control, and Apple refuses to relinquish any of it, even if they keep control all the way into the ground.
Re:Higher demand after iPhone 4 release in Q3 (Score:4, Insightful)
And how many non-geeks really care about such a thing?
You do realize that you're posting it on a website titled "news for nerds", right?
Anyway, which model dominates does affect you as a geek, because it defines how much you will have to shell out for an open phone, how many applications will there be for it, etc.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:5, Insightful)
IN THE QUARTER. In the quarter. It's the biggest platform IN THE QUARTER.
Rather than admonishing other people to read your links, please read the story that you're talking about. They haven't caught up to anyone yet, they're just selling faster.
Ignore the 851% figure because it's meaningless. If I sell 1 phone in my first quarter and TEN phones in my second quarter, that's a growth of 1000% per quarter! All it tells us is that Android didn't have much market penetration before and it's up now.
In the end, this isn't news. There are MANY manufacturers using Android as a platform and only Apple using iOS as a platform. Apple is tied to the most hated major network in America, and Android isn't. The actual question is 'what took them so dang long?'
Re:Bring tha hate, bring tha noise! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's an excellent way to compare them. The strength of platforms like iPhoneOS, Android, WindowsCE, etc. is that you can run the same apps across all of the devices. The more devices there are out in the population, the more enticing it is for developers to develop for them. The more developers there are developing for a platform, the more decent quality apps there are, and the more decent quality apps there are the more people will want to buy into the platform. It's a cycle that accelerates at an increasing rate as the install base increases. It's what has made the Apple app store so successful up to this point and will work the same way for Android.
Re:I wonder how much of this you can blame on AT&a (Score:4, Insightful)
It's a shame that AT&T held a gun to Jobs head to force Apple to sign an exclusive agreement with them.
And most important: multiple sources for applications.
Re:Curious... (Score:1, Insightful)
Apple's geek cred is based on the fact that sell an awesome Unix OS. That carried them a long way, until it became clear the iPhone was not going to continue any of the advantages of having Unix under the hood and add on disadvantages that make Windows look appealing. I'd say their geek cred is now shot outside of OS X.
Re:Wow. (Score:3, Insightful)
I find it impressive that a relatively new platform is selling comparably to a platform that's been around for 4 years and has had a chance to "iron out the bugs".
Oh, and Apple's selling three different iPhone models, so it's not exactly a "single handset".
Re:I wonder how much of this you can blame on AT&a (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
97% population does not cover 97% land area, it probably is closer to 60% or less land area.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm sure people in the comments will conveniently ignore those facts, especially the one about not including iPhone 4 sales. Many analysts say the iPhone 4 leak hampered 3GS sales because customers were waiting for the new model. Also, it's bizarre to be comparing an OS to one device. It's more accurate to compare Android to iOS, which would then include the iPad.
iPhone 4 + iPad = more than Android, sorry.
Re:Bring tha hate, bring tha noise! (Score:4, Insightful)
Nonsense. Windows Mobile = oodles of companies and it still fails.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:2, Insightful)
I get tickled at news like this. There are numerous vendors selling Android phones, and only 1 vendor selling a current model iPhone from one provider in the U.S. These numbers also do not take into account iPhone 4 sales after it's release. Funny this article doesn't mention that.
This is not something to 'brag' about. They should be solidly trouncing iPhone considering how popular Android is becoming. It's a common thing to see Apple hardware sales decline before a new line is introduced. People hold back on buying in order to get the latest. Just look at the sales history for iPhone and Apple Mac hardware.
This is like saying all other PC vendors combined outsold Dell. It's a silly argument.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, none of the big names ship their best phones to the US, sadly enough, except for Apple. One can just look at the phones offered in markets like South Korea or Japan to see what should be here in the US. Those places, there is actual broadcast TV that people can easily watch (without being dependent on the data bandwidth.)
Until Apple came out with the iPhone and woke people up in the US, when I showed them what a smartphone was able to do, the response was mainly, "who cares about Bluetooth or E-mail. I just want a phone that is thin and makes calls. Any more and that is what a laptop is for." Ironic how things change. It wasn't that long ago when everyone was lusting after RAZR models and people with smartphones were either geeks or corporate execs.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:4, Insightful)
It's more accurate to compare Android to iOS, which would then include the iPad.
No, it's a valid comparison - the category is smartphone OS market share, which is a perfectly valid and meaningful category.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:5, Insightful)
That was exactly my point and Windows vs. Mac is a good example. This is about as relevant as saying that Windows sells more OS in a quater than Mac. It's just kind of a 'duh' statement. Although Apple is extremely popular in the smartphone segment, they are only a single company. They can't hope to compete with every other smartphone vendor releasing an Android phone.
This would be significant if it was a 'Droid X outsells iPhone' headline. Instead, they are grouping a slew of hardware models together into one big group who happen to all use the same base OS, and then comparing them to a handset that only comes on a single piece of hardware from a single vendor.
Re:Higher demand after iPhone 4 release in Q3 (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:5, Insightful)
The point of market share reports isn't like a sporting even where you cheer for your favorite team (fanboyism), but to help people understand the big picture of what is happening in the market.
For example: I need to migrate an enterprise application to a handheld computer platform, and this report makes me think I should start hiring engineers with knowledge of android instead of iOS or Windows Mobile developers.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:4, Insightful)
And Apple may be the biggest individual seller of desktop computers (it was for a while, ISTR, don't know if that's still true) but the fact that MacOS has far less penetration than Windows means that MacOS is far less attractive for many application developers.
If the same thing happens with the mobile space, it will make native iOS apps less attractive to developers than other choices. Which has a feedback effect, as the decrease in iPhone-specific apps will reduce the incentive to buy into the platform for the apps.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:4, Insightful)
That's just not a winning fight for Apple. And even if they added other carries, the other carries are already selling the other devices. Apple's 1.5 product releases a year won't keep up. The installed user base won't keep up. The innovation won't keep up. I'll be honest, people keep talking about an iPhone on Verizon. I just don't see it happening. Verizon seems to be doing pretty good with Android right now.
So why it's not a valid comparison or whether it is or not, doesn't matter. The end game right now is bad for apple.
Re:Android is not a phone!! (Score:3, Insightful)
Its certainly relevant to anyone who cares about targeting a platform (such as, say, developers) to compare sales of one platform to another.
So compare the platform then, not the device. iOS runs on multiple different devices. Android does too. If a developer is targeting Apple's platform, they're targeting a version of iOS, and by all indications, developers are targeting iOS more than Android [thetechjournal.com]. The fact that there are about 5x more apps in the AppStore just backs up that claim.
Re:Bring tha hate, bring tha noise! (Score:1, Insightful)
well by that logic you should include ipad and ipod touch numbers too.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Bring tha hate, bring tha noise! (Score:3, Insightful)
they are instead smug about hopping on the walled-off Apple bandwagon where customizing a device you own is not allowed unless it's approved by the company that sold it to you.
Uh... Isn't Android largely just the same? To freely customize an average Android device you own, you have to root it using methods very unapproved by the operator that sold it to you? How is this different from iPhone?
Re:After almost 20 years (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, how dare we prefer an OS on our mobile devices that shares technologies and toolkits with our desktop instead of a unique, incompatible Java implementation from a single source.
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:1, Insightful)
Right... because v4 has received so much good publicity...
It's not like Steve had a lot of choice (Score:3, Insightful)
AT&T was the only carrier that would let Apple retain a degree of control over the phone. Given the crap that, say, Verizon tends to load their phones up with, and their tendency to nickel and dime you to death with fees for everything, I can't say I'm sorry about how things worked out.
Re:After almost 20 years (Score:2, Insightful)
> huge dependency on Google for future development
Yeah, if only they released the source:
http://source.android.com/source/index.html [android.com]
or if people other than Google released the hardware:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Android_devices [wikipedia.org]
or if Android didn't use such unpopular, old fashioned technologies as Java, C++, Linux, XML etc etc.
Never heard of MeeGo, so I just googled for it. It appears to be something Nokia is doing - presumably because they're shit scared that Android/iPhone has just rendered them unnecessary. Who's going to want some shitty proprietary OS now? Intel are no fools - they're porting Android to x86. Perhaps Nokia are better off partnering with Apple?
Re:What are you smoking? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm sure people in the comments will conveniently ignore those facts, especially the one about not including iPhone 4 sales. Many analysts say the iPhone 4 leak hampered 3GS sales because customers were waiting for the new model. Also, it's bizarre to be comparing an OS to one device. It's more accurate to compare Android to iOS, which would then include the iPad.
iPhone 4 + iPad = more than Android, sorry.
Nor does it include the new batch of Android based phones that just came out (check Verizon for a bunch), so big deal. I suspect if it did, then Android phone lead would increase.
And since we are discussing smartphones which is prominently mentioned in each article title and the article itself, then it would be ludicrous to include iPads and the iPod Touch (or non-phone Android devices).
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:3, Insightful)
You don't get it. You think it's about hardware and you're completely wrong. It's about software, more specifically, OS. It doesn't matter how many of any given phone is sold, it's about how many phones with a given OS are sold.
They can't hope to compete with every other smartphone vendor releasing an Android phone.
They could compete if they wanted to. They don't have to be typical tyrannical Apple and insist on controlling everything about the phone. They could easily license iOS to other companies to make iOS phones and still have the iPhone as a separate phone (like how Google did with the Nexus One). Or, they could make multiple product lines - such as an iPhone and an iPhone slider and an iPhone XL (larger screen). However, Apple is too arrogant to make multiple product lines because they think that if they make something, it is perfect and there is no need for any other models.
Re:Higher demand after iPhone 4 release in Q3 (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Already #1 in the US market (Score:2, Insightful)