Though you might be familiar with the popularity and hyped created by apple iPhone but here is the truth according to researchers.
Article appeared on guardian.co.uk
Google's Android operating system has outsold Apple's mobile phone system in the US for the first time, according to new research
Mobile phones using Google's Android operating system have outsold Apple's iPhone in the US for the first time, according to new research, as the battle between two of the biggest American technology firms to dominate the mobile web steps up a gear.
The iPhone revolutionised the mobile phone industry when it appeared three years ago, but fearful of being squeezed out of the mobile internet market, Google quickly hit back with its own software platform called Android.
Despite a shaky start when the first device, the G1, went on sale more than a year after the iPhone launched, Google's platform has gone from strength to strength with a slew of new handsets, some of which have been received favourably compared with the latest version of Apple's flagship device.
Mobile phones using Android now make up the second most popular category of smartphone in the US, according to market research by the NPD Group. The market for phones that can send emails, access the web and download applications is still dominated by the BlackBerry, made by Canada's Research In Motion and a brand which last year celebrated its 10th birthday, but Android is closing the gap. BlackBerry devices accounted for 36% of the smartphone market in the first quarter of the year, according to NPD, while Android devices had a 28% share and the iPhone 21%.
But Google is unlikely to have the upper hand for long. Apple is expected to unveil its new 4G iPhone at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco next month, and it will be upgrading its mobile phone software so that existing iPhones can run more than one "app" at a time – one of Android's current selling points.
The NPD survey follows news from the retail watcher GfK last month, which showed that almost one in five smartphones now sold in the UK uses Android. GfK, whose pronouncements about the retail industry are pored over by City analysts, said Android handsets accounted for 12.3% of all phones sold to customers signing up for a long-term mobile phone contract in the week ending to 18 April – compared with just 3% of the market in the last week of March.
The reason for the rise in Android's market share on both sides of the Atlantic is the increased number of devices that use the software. In the UK, for instance the HTC Desire – which is ranged by four of the five UK networks – has been selling well since its recent launch, while Sony Ericsson has been heavily marketing the Xperia X10. In the US, meanwhile, Motorola scored a big hit with the Droid, which was backed by a massive advertising campaign from its network partner Verizon Wireless. But its UK version, called the Milestone, has so far failed to find a major network partner, while its previous Android device – the Dext – is only sold by Orange.
The survey will cheer Google as sales of its first own-branded Android device – the Nexus One, made by HTC – have disappointed analysts in the US since it was launched at the start of the year. In March Goldman Sachs slashed its estimate for Nexus One sales this year from 3.5m units to just 1m worldwide. Vodafone started selling the device in the UK last month and ran out of stock within days despite the network already stocking the HTC Desire, which has been widely seen as a better phone.
NPD said the market in the US has been buoyed by promotions, especially from Verizon Wireless, in which Vodafone is a minority shareholder, as it looked to compete with AT&T, which has the iPhone under an exclusive deal.
In the three months to end March, AT&T grabbed 32% of the smartphone market, according to NPD's Mobile Phone Track, followed by Verizon Wireless with 30%, T-Mobile with 17% and Sprint with 15%. The news is disappointing for T-Mobile as it was the original launch partner for Google in the US for the first Android device, the G1, which arrived in September 2008.News of Android's success came as O2, Orange and Vodafone announced pricing plans for Apple's latest gadget, the iPad, which can access the web using wi-fi or 3G mobile phone networks and will be available in the UK later this month.
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