Hasta La Gadget!

A stream of new Android smartphones have helped the Google designed operating system gain market share while rivals such as Apple and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion lost points, according to the latest mobile subscriber report from analytics company comScore.

Among smartphone platforms, Android OS grew to 17 percent share between May and July from 12 percent at the end of April. During the same period, RIM and Apple lost about 1.3 percent share.

The good news for RIM, though, is that it continues to lead among smartphone platforms with 39.9 percent market share, while Apple is firmly in the second place with 23.8 percent share. Microsoft’s Windows Mobile accounted for 11.8 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Palm rounded out the top five with 4.9 percent.

Android’s growth has been powered by a slew of new handsets that have launched in the last few months. HTC’s EVO 4G debuted on Sprint in June. A few weeks later, Motorola introduced its second generation Droid and Droid X on the Verizon Wireless network. Meanwhile, Samsung launched its Galaxy S range of smartphones. Last month, Samsung said it has shipped more than one million Galaxy S phones in 45 days since the devices hit retail stores in mid-July.

More than 20 Android phones are available in the U.S. currently.

Despite losing share to Google Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow, says comScore.

Among all mobile handset manufacturers–including both smartphones and feature phones–Samsung ranked at the the top with 23.1 percent market share in the U.S. At the end of July, 234 million Americans used mobile devices. Of these, 53.4 million people have smartphones, up 11 percent from the end of April, says comScore.

See Also:

• Android 2.1 Operating System Gains Steam
• Android Fragmentation Declines, But Older Versions Still Rule
• DIYers Hack Windows Mobile Phones to Run Android
• 5 Things Google Still Needs to Fix in Android
• Android Beats iPhone in Smartphone Sales
• Motorola Droid Rules Android

You can read that as bitter hype; then again, we’re looking at a company that’s known to live up to its words. In a recent interview with UDN, Acer Inc. Chairman JT Wang echoed ASUS’ recent forecast regarding the iPad’s erosion of the netbook market in the US and UK, although he also pointed out that netbooks are still selling like hotcakes in developing countries. As for the tablet market itself, Wang believes that Apple’s closed camp operation will ultimately bow to other joint forces once the market matures, thus lowering the iPad’s current near-100 percent share to somewhere between 20 and 30 percent. Hell, the man even suggested this could be an over-estimation, and referred to the Mac’s minuscule 5 percent global share over the last few years. And you know what? He might be right. That doesn’t mean that the iPad’s days are numbered though since Apple’s never been interested in taking part in the “race to the bottom.” Apple measures success by profits, not market share — even a small percentage of high-margin laptop and smartphone sales has proven to be a very good thing for Apple’s bottom line. Besides, if open is such a great thing, we’d like to question Wang on what caused the Windows-based tablets to flop in the first place? Regardless, this would certainly be another prediction to look out for in a few years’ time.

Acer’s JT Wang: iPad’s market share will drop to about 20 percent, maybe less originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Step aside, BlackBerrys and iPhones, the American consumer has voted with his wallet and picked Android as his favorite flavor in the quarter just gone. NPD’s number crunchers have just announced their findings for Q2 2010, concluding that 33 percent of phones sold during the period had Android on board. This marks the first time in eons (Q4 2007, to be more precise) that RIM has not held the crown of most purchased smartphone OS on US soil, with its BlackBerrys accounting for 28% of the market and Apple’s iPhone occupying third spot with 22%. Motorola and HTC are the key suspects fingered for Android’s continuing ascent, with the “large screen allure” of their handsets playing well with the buying public. Skip after the break for a more detailed breakdown.

Disclaimer: NPD’s Ross Rubin is a contributor to Engadget.

Continue reading NPD: Android is now top-selling OS in American smartphones

NPD: Android is now top-selling OS in American smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew Android phones were selling like gangbusters — Google has been none too shy in telling us as much — but numbers were slightly less clear in a larger context. Well, if a new report by Canalys is to be believed, those numbers are just fine in a larger context. Canalys claims that in Q2 Android was up a whopping 886 percent over last year’s sales during this time period (remember, the original Droid didn’t come out until November), and those wild sales put it at 34 percent of the US market, compared to RIM’s 32 percent and Apple’s 21.7 share. Of course, RIM has a big launch on the way, and we’re not sure how much of the iPhone 4’s heady run this report captures, so things could naturally look different for Q3. Also, it’s worth noting that the breakdown of phones actually in use is of course dramatically different. Still, nobody is doing that bad: the smartphone market is up 64 percent year-over-year, and Apple and RIM grew 61 percent and 41 percent, respectively. Oh, and remember Nokia? Yeah, they’re still beating the world with a 38 percent market share and 41 percent growth. Check out the press release after the break for all the percentages your heart could ever desire.

Continue reading Canalys: Android takes Q2 smartphone market share lead in US with 886 percent year-over-year growth

Canalys: Android takes Q2 smartphone market share lead in US with 886 percent year-over-year growth originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Slip on your fine silk smoking jacket and light up a victory cigar US Android fans, the latest comScore numbers are out for the three-month period ending in May 2010. The most notable trend spotted was a 4 point (up from 9.0% to 13.0%) quarterly increase in Google’s Android market share as all other smartphone OS subscribers declined. ComScore also saw Motorola’s slide continue, slipping behind LG now for a third place US finish as Samsung continued to bolster its dominant position. Expect the numbers to be jostled a bit next quarter when Apple’s iPhone 4 numbers are factored in. Just don’t expect to see the Android numbers suffer, especially with the Samsung Galaxy S launching on all the major US carriers before the quarter is done.

[Thanks, Jeremy]

ComScore: Android grows US smartphone market share as all others decline originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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