Data Monday: US Smartphone Market

by August 9, 2010

This month several sources reported Google's Android market share on mobile overtook Apple's iOs and even RIM's Blackberry in the United States. Here's the details.

  • Google is now activating 200,000 a day. In June 2010, they were activating 160,000 a day. In May 2010 it was 100,000 per day. (source)
  • AT&T activated 3.2 million iPhones in Q2 . That's 35,000 phones activated per day. Which is 10 times as many iPhone 4s as 3GS. (source)
  • Android accounted for 33% of all smartphones purchased (in terms of subscribers) in Q2, ahead of RIM (28%) and Apple (22%). Android now installed in one of every three smartphones sold at retail. While the Google-developed OS took market share from RIM, Apple’s iOS saw a small gain this quarter on the strength of the iPhone 4 launch. (source)
  • Android devices collectively represented a 34% share of the US market in the second quarter, and with growth of 851% Android became the largest smart phone platform (in terms of sales per quarter) in the United States. (source)
  • Android’s rise is even more noticeable among new smartphone subscribers in the last six months where Android has nosed past Apple’s iOS in the last quarter to grab a 27% share of those recent smartphone subscribers. Apple has 23%. Rim as 33%. (source)
  • The United States smart phone market grew 41% year on year. It is the largest smart phone market in the world by a significant margin, with 14.7 million units accounting for 23% of global shipments in Q2 2010. (source)
  • By the end of 2011, smartphones are predicted to overtake feature phones in the U.S. market. (source)
  • Global handset sales will grow to 1.3 billion units in 2010. Smartphones will experience 20% annual growth over the next six years (source)

More Android and iPhone Comparisons

  • May 2010: As Google's Android operating system makes its way onto more smartphones, it edges closer to Apple's iPhone in several ways.
  • Application Interface Models: the iPhone & Android operating systems handle application access & management differently. Does either approach lead to more app customization?
  • Customer Satisfaction: does Apple's focus on the iPhone user experience result in higher customer satisfaction than Google's Android?
  • Ad Campaigns: the contrast between the advertising campaigns for these two smartphone platforms is quite striking.