Android Shines, RIM/Apple/Microsoft/Palm "Fall"

jntdroid

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comscore.JPG

source: Comscore

Numbers always speak for themselves - or do they? Comscore released a report yesterday showing the changes in smartphone platform users between May 1st and July 31st. While this represents a relatively small time frame, it does add to the mounting evidence that Android is poised to live up to recent projections.

However, what does this really mean for the other platforms? Reports are cropping up everywhere (just search "Android" on Google News) claiming that this is further proof that Android is eating away at Apple and RIM, and that Android is hammering the nails into the iOS coffin. While I agree with that concept to a certain extent, I don't think the Comscore report is necessarily enough to bolster that idea, and I believe some "iPhone-killing" restraint is necessary.

Let's get the two easy ones out of the way. Palm being frozen - no big surprise, given what they have gone through over the past year. Microsoft - also not a big surprise given that Windows Phone 7 will supposedly be appearing on phones soon (November?), and WM 6.5 has not exactly been a flagship OS for Microsoft.

RIM - this one is slightly more complicated, but not much. RIM has had a stronghold on the corporate world for some time now, while gradually losing overall market share. Google and Apple want to take a larger bite out of the corporate sector, and with recent security additions on both Android and iOS, they are starting to do just that. So, all in all, a drop in RIM isn't a huge surprise either.

And that brings us to Apple - the "arch rival" of Android. To the Android fanbois, this report probably had a heavenly light shining on it with a hallelujah chorus playing in the background. And, again, don't take this the wrong way - a 5% gain for Android is very strong, and great news for Android enthusiasts. However, Jonny Evans' blog, over at Computerworld, [disclaimer: a self proclaimed Apple-holic] brings up some interesting points that I think might have some clout. He points out that while the iPhone 4 was released during this time, it sold out immediately, and has been in extremely limited supply ever since. Since iOS is dependent on a single phone, it it likely affected to a greater extent by that limited supply. Combine that with the fact that hardly anybody was going to purchase a new iPhone 3Gs, knowing the 4 was out, and you can make a decent case for why Apple's numbers were down - mostly independent of Android.

I'm all for Android becoming the dominant player we would like it to become, we just need to keep a balanced perspective in the process.

Sources:
comScore Reports July 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share - comScore, Inc
Gartner Says Android to Become No. 2 Worldwide Mobile Operating System in 2010 and Challenge Symbian for No. 1 Position by 2014
RIM Duels With Droid - WSJ.com
iPhone-killing Android reports are 'exaggerated' - Computerworld Blogs
 
I love how the apple boys argue that the iphone4 was sold out boo hoo. Guess the Incredible, DroidX, and Evo (for a short time but not nearly that of the other two) were sold out and as far as I know are still sold out while I know a friend's friend walked in and got an iphone4 so I guess the hype died down.
 
Another slight cooler of enthusiasm. The smart phone market is growing rapidly. There is more than enough room for Android phones to show growth, over 6% more rapid growth than the iPhone even, and still not indicate a significant slowing of iPhone sales. Given the iPhones limitation to AT&T it would be surprising (and disappointing) if Android failed grow faster.

That said, it's nice to see that Android is proving that it will be a top competitor. Let's keep the market lively for a few more years and see where it leads.
 
Apple

Personally, I think if or when the Iphone gets released to Verizon, it will the android a ran for its money.
 
But blackberry has the torch now! ;)
 
Seen reviews on the torch, alot of people didn't like it. Said it was slow? Don't really know, never used one. Just seen a video on the phone..
 
Unless I don't understand the report, I don't see how the iPhone 4 shortage would sway the results that much. The report says it is for smartphone subscribers. It does not say smartphone sales. I would think that a lot of iPhone 4 sales were to people who were upgrading from an earlier iPhone. If they could not upgrade because of the shortage, they would still be counted as an iPhone subscriber. Since the report is for a 3 month period and iPhone had about a 3 year jump on Android, I would think that the number of sales during that period were many times higher for Android than for iPhone and even more so compared to the rest.
 
Competition is always good, Helps bring out better devices for the masses.
I am Looking forward to Apple's next move.
 
Unless I don't understand the report, I don't see how the iPhone 4 shortage would sway the results that much. The report says it is for smartphone subscribers. It does not say smartphone sales. I would think that a lot of iPhone 4 sales were to people who were upgrading from an earlier iPhone. If they could not upgrade because of the shortage, they would still be counted as an iPhone subscriber. Since the report is for a 3 month period and iPhone had about a 3 year jump on Android, I would think that the number of sales during that period were many times higher for Android than for iPhone and even more so compared to the rest.

I think you're exactly right, if I'm understanding you correctly.

The graph is referencing platforms / OS more than anything else. The point was, mainly, to state that Apple's loss and Android's gain, in this specific report, quite possibly have zero correlation whatsoever. Though, if I had to put a number on it, I would estimate the correlation between the two, on this report, to only be somewhere around -0.2. :p
 
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