So, we’ve seen Android closing in on iPhone in total marketshare for a while now. There have been a lot of reports that in recent periods Android has been outselling iPhone, which is awesome…but Apple had such a huge head start, we knew it would take a lot of consistent growth to get Android on top where I believe it belongs.
But what’s this? A report from comScore states that as of November, Android had 26% of the Smartphone market (up 6.4% in a three-month period) as compared to Apple’s 25% (up just .8%). RIM is still in the lead with 33.5%, but they are declining nearly as quickly as Android is rising. If the rate of change in the next three-month period (which is almost over, per their data) looks anything like the numbers in THAT three-month period, that will perch Android squarely on top.
What account for Android’s quick growth? In my opinion, the fact that it’s an open-source OS that focuses on allowing the experience be tailored to the user. Because multiple manufacturers are developing phones, it affords a high level of choice. Whatever carrier you have, they’ve got at least one Android phone available to you, with most having several choices. However much you want to spend, there’s an Android phone in your price range. Blackberry does spread their phones across multiple networks, but RIM is the only manufacturer, as they’ve been slow to innovate. Apple, so far, not only is the only company manufacturing their phones, but they’re only selling them on one carrier. What would a Verizon iPhone do for these numbers? Only time will tell, if that rumor even pans out to be true and comes to fruition.
Regardless, this is big news in the smartphone battle, and is a huge win for Android owners. Android having a bigger marketshare than iPhone SHOULD mean that developers will look very closely at which platform it really makes more sense to develop for. And it probably goes without saying that here at TalkAndroid, we’re excited to see Andy win each battle, and hope to see him ultimately wind up on top.
[via comScore by way of Engadget]
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