Android is Booming and RIM is Dying, No Matter Who You Ask
According to various sources, Android smart phones are surging in the U.S., while RIM and its BlackBerry devices are falling down the rankings.
The Nielsen Company found that Android had 19 percent of the U.S. smart phone market in the third quarter, but that Google’s Android OS phones were the most popular phones purchased among those who chose a device in the last six months.
RIM BlackBerry OS still sits atop the smart phone OS market, however, with 30 percent of the share in the third quarter. Apple iPhone OS was in second with 28 percent. Both mobile operating systems were “practically tied for second place” among those who chose a mobile device in the last six months.
Canalys, a technology market-data company, had bigger figures for the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) and its Android platform, which it pegged at 43.6 percent of smart phone shipments in the U.S. in the third quarter. Apple followed with 26.2 percent of the market, while RIM fell from second place to third place with 24.2 percent of the market.
In the worldwide market, Canalys found that Android devices were up 1,309 percent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2010, as shipments jumped from 1.4 million to 20 million units.
The NPD Group had similar figures, as it found that Android smart phones led the market in the third quarter and was installed on 44 percent of all smart phones purchased during the three-month period, up 11 percentage points from the previous quarter.
Apple iOS finished the quarter with 23 percent of the market, up 1 percentage point from the prior quarter, while RIM fell to third with 22 percent of the market, down 6 percentage points from the second quarter.
“Much of Android’s quarterly share growth came at the expense of RIM, rather than Apple,” remarked Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. He noted that the HTC EVO 4G and Motorola Droid X were among the high-end Android devices that gained momentum with carriers that have been strong bastions for RIM in the past. And, to no one’s surprise, RIM’s BlackBerry Torch “has done little to stem the tide.”
Another sign of doom for RIM is that it has the most users age 45 and older, according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, 50 percent of Android device owners are under the age of 35, and Apple boasts the most smart phone users under 44.
Clearly, all mobile marketers should have Android on their radars if it hasn’t been already.
Sources:</strong
http://www.canalys.com/pr/2010/r2010111.html
