Android continues to outsell iPhone in second quarter

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Some fresh stats on the mobile market are now available courtesy of researchers Canalys and Nielsen, whose figures show that Android devices have continued to outsell those from Apple. Google's mobile operating system grew 886% worldwide on-year, accounting for 34% of smartphone sales in the US during the second quarter of 2010, which compares to the iPhone's 21%.

That shouldn't come as a shock since NPD claimed Android was outselling the iPhone earlier this year (28% versus 21%), but it's worth noting that Canalys' numbers don't include the iPhone 4, so things could shift a bit in the coming months. Regardless, it's unlikely for Apple to regain the lead so soon.

Despite being out-shipped, Apple's smartphones remain the most desired. It's said that 89% of iPhone users plan to stick with the platform on their next purchase, which compares to 71% of Android owners and 42% of Blackberry customers. Meanwhile, some 21% of Android and 29% of Blackberry users want an iPhone, and a combined 8% of iPhone owners want to leave for Android or Blackberry.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/39846-android-continues-to-outsell-iphone-in-second-quarter.html

 

[Guest]

This is not really impressive. The reason is because Android has many smartphone products from many companies and carries, endorsing and using its OS, while iPhone is both OS and phone; in one. If iOS wasn't as proprietary as it is, I would have to say Android wouldn't stand a chance.

Oh, yeah, I'm an Android fanboy so to speak, so don't take the TRUTH the wrong way.

 

[Guest]

"but it's worth noting that Canalys' numbers don't include the iPhone 4".

Ok call me a fan boy if you want...but considering as of July 20th Apple had already sold 8.4 million Iphone 4's (https://www.techspot.com/news/39715-apple-posts-another-record-quarter-325-billion-profit.html) ... yeah I think those numbers are wrong, and BS Android propaganda

 

[red1776]

I am considering a Droid, any feedback from owners?

 

[Archean]

@red
I think LA and super are using it, so perhaps you can ask them.

 

[LinkedKube]

I love my motorola droid, it does everything I need and more. I dont know an unhappy droid owner myself.

 

[red1776]

I love my motorola droid, it does everything I need and more. I dont know an unhappy droid owner myself.

Very good, Thanks super, I believe Droid has just made another sale. (that and I'll be damned if i'm going to line job's pockets

 

[Lamberty]

red1776 said:

I love my motorola droid, it does everything I need and more. I dont know an unhappy droid owner myself.

Very good, Thanks super, I believe Droid has just made another sale. (that and I'll be damned if i'm going to line job's pockets

I just bought the Galaxy S Captivate from At&t and love it, haven't had any issues with it and compared to my last phone(tilt2) it hasn't frozen on me or had any hangup on processing.

 

[Leeky]

I took advantage of the iphone 4 being released, and was due an upgrade, so managed to get a iphone 3GS for absolutely nothing on a 18 month contract with Orange. I'm quite chuffed about it because its costing me no more than before as well, and I have exactly the same free minutes, texts and internet as before.

It even arrived with iOS4 installed.

Those droid phones are good. My family have HTC models with Droid installed. If it wasn't for the spanking deal I got on my new iphone I'd almost certainly have got a HTC droid phone.

 

[Vrmithrax]

Guest said:
This is not really impressive. The reason is because Android has many smartphone products from many companies and carries, endorsing and using its OS, while iPhone is both OS and phone; in one. If iOS wasn't as proprietary as it is, I would have to say Android wouldn't stand a chance.

Oh, yeah, I'm an Android fanboy so to speak, so don't take the TRUTH the wrong way.

That proprietary iOS is really a pretty small part of the reported unit numbers (but a big part of making it the more desired system, ironically). As you touched on early, it's the widespread availability of Android across many manufacturers and carriers that is giving the phone the edge. It's simple math, and Apple's decision to lock itself down to AT&T has been the company's double-edged sword: it brought big power and advertising behind the iPhone, but it also turns off and isolates sales from many who dislike AT&T or can't use AT&T due to spotty reception or other issues.

The other guest down here likes to make it all into and some kind of pro-Android propaganda, but that's a typical Apple fanboy knee-jerk reaction. Fact is, Android is winning on the sheer numbers front, and it's all because of the numbers game: more availability of carriers + more flexibility of platform selection = more population coverage. It's not rocket science.

 

[Leeky]

That proprietary iOS.....

Is it still locked to only AT&T in the US then?

Over here in the UK, its now offered on all but one of our five major mobile phone providers.

 

[Vrmithrax]

@Leeky - yep, here in the US, it's still just one manufacturer and one provider (officially). Now that it's been decided that jailbreaking your phones is legal, there might be some leakage to other compatible carriers, if the phones work elsewhere...

 

[Leeky]

@Vrmithrax
I honestly don't get the logic in doing that! They must be missing out on literally millions of sales per year with this arrangement.

 

[ansarimikail]

There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics.

 

[Vrmithrax]

@Leeky - yep, but (at the risk of stirring up the fanboys) we're talking Apple here, so logic isn't always a deciding factor

The problem is, Apple wanted to break into the phone market, and they found a great partner in AT&T. What is happening now is just the continuation of the exclusivity contracts that were signed to help get the phone on the market, and into (at the time) the largest wireless carrier with the best reliability rating (or at least the best PR spin on reliability). Thing is, if you examine the Apple mentality of closed systems and their control freak nature, having a single source to the consumer actually fits into their elitist tendencies.

Google, on the other hand, have been swimming in the open source and flexibility pool almost since their inception. So, it makes sense that they would have more of a broad stroke, throwing the gates of Android open for anyone that wants to take a stab at it. Rather than keeping a stranglehold on hardware AND software, they work on the software and let the ones with the experience make something to run their stuff.

Apple is a surgical tactical nuke strike. Google is more of a high megaton dirty bomb. Remains to be seen whose tactics are best in the long run.

 

[PanicX]

The 89% of iPhone users that don't want to switch has me curious if this is because they genuinely prefer the iPhone, or because they feel they're locked in with investments in App Store purchases and iTunes.

Personally, I've been disappointed with my iPhone 3G lately. It's been locking up a lot, and since upgrading to iOS 4.0 its been running really slow. The battery life is also starting to be a problem and it's not like I can just buy a new battery.

 

[EXCellR8]

i'd choose a android phone over an iphone any day, especially with the latest crapfest that is the iphone 4 on the market.

 

[Leeky]

@PanicX
The iPhone is good, but lets be brutal, some of it is gimmick which quickly wears off. That said, I'm yet to have a phone that has been so useful with the way it handles emails, and the flexibility it offers me with my IMAP accounts.

The iPhone is very well made, but two things anger me:

1. The rear cover is already scratched, and its kept in a cover, and I don't have any rings on my fingers. Its barely 1 month old and that's unacceptable. My last 3 phones when replaced didn't even have a scratch in over 12 months use!
2. The battery life is silly. I've never owned a phone that needs charging so much - But I suspect that's mainly due to emails synchronising every 5 mins and wireless always on when its home.

It is by far the best phone I've ever owned. I can't comment on what it was like with pre-iOS4 software, but the iOS 4.01 update certainly made a difference to performance - And most crucially reception on the phone which is one major criticism I have with it.

All that said, I only purchased it because my contract was up for renewal, and for two reasons:

The phone was free on contract
I'm paying the same as my previous contract, with the same package.

I've always wanted an iPhone, but would never, ever pay for one up front. Service providers earn enough money from consumers, without us paying to even be handed a phone.

@Vrm...

I can understand that - They did the same with 02 mobile here in the UK. But they then relaxed it, and allowed 4 of the 5 main mobile carriers in the UK to sell it too. I'd have thought they'd have released it to other providers in the US now too.

That said, I do agree that Apple have a very different way of doing things. AT&T alone, probably have 4-5 times the customer exposure of all providers in the UK. So I suppose for them its not such a problem there.

 

[kissx]

get one!

 

[Guest]

Apple has become a sad punchline. All you see about them lately is bad news. You know, they say that any press is good press.... I don't think so anymore when I look at Apple. Glitchy software, defective hardware, bad customer service.... Everyone say goodbye to Apple while you still can....

http://TechReview.LIEconomy.com

 

[AnonymousSurfer]

This is interesting news to me. I see more people with iPhones than I do Andriods. I would love an Andriod though...

 

[Archean]

Very good, Thanks super, I believe Droid has just made another sale. (that and I'll be damned if i'm going to line job's pockets

red:
I recently ended up having to buy a new cell (frankly I wanted a WP7 phone, but as it is not out yet in the wild, and I couldn't afford to be without a cell for weeks), so I bought Samsung Galaxy S, so far it seems to be a very good choice. It came with Eclair (i.e. Android 2.1); the interface reasonably well thought out and very responsive; email seems to be best I've seen for a while; although there is some issue with GPS (but it doesn't bother me), which Emil said they have fixed (I'm still looking for the url to get it). By the way there is a very good review of this set on gsmarena as well.

One thing which surprised me was this can handle almost any video format (MKV/AC3/FLV and more) without bothering to convert, and they look fantastically cool on its Super AMOLED screen

Now to battery life; I've played Master & Commander (full movie) on it and it utilized something like 15%(+/-) of the battery power; that isn't bad. I couldn't check the exact usage because I didn't knew the way how to do it until afterwards

There are many Android phones out there, but apart from this GPS issue, this is the best Android phone I believe. Goodluck

Edit:
I forgot to add one thing, and it is about texting (mind you I prefer to call instead of sending out texts) but this thing rocks when it comes to texting, "as it have an on-screen Swype keyboard in both portrait and landscape. The way it works is instead of tapping on keys you sweep a finger across the keyboard; so e.g. to "type" quick, you need to put a finger on the Q key and sweep over to U, then I, then C and all the way to K. There's a visual trail that marks your finger movement across the keyboard."

Also according to gsmarena "And last but not least the Galaxy S managed to get through 7 hours and 25 minutes of video playback before it battery reached 10 percent (at which point the player is automatically turned off) in our dedicated test."