It’s not about market share, really
Don’t just roll your eyes. You really should give this one a full body roll — it’s easier than you think, try it. A market research firm is reporting that Apple’s iPhone is gaining on Android, which means the smartphone war (and the attendant pointless fan boy tantrums) is anything but over.
Quantity has a quality all its own, or so the erstwhile Premier of the erstwhile Soviet Union, Nikita Kruschev, would have had us believe.
That said, Google chairman Eric Schmidt was clearly channeling Kruschev when he said “Whether you like Android or not, you will support that platform and maybe you’ll even deliver it first.”
Yes, Eric, you will crush Apple.
(And, before we go on, it bears repeating what Apple really cares about — profit. OK, back to the silliness.)
However, a strange thing happened on the way to world domination — Android is losing market share and arch rival Apple adding some. In fact, this is the second quarter in a row that we’ve seen this.
“Android continues to hold the lead among all smartphone users, with 46.3 percent of all smartphone owners surveyed in Q42011 reporting they have an Android-based mobile phone,” writes market researcher Nielsen. However, “…the high-profile launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S in the Fall had an enormous impact on the proportion of smartphone owners who chose an Apple iPhone.”
Remember all of that talk back in October that the iPhone 4S was disappointing? That the device would do little to attract buyers? Pfft, as if.
Of course, a rising share of the unit volume pie likely means Apple will also take a bigger bite of the profits…
Think Android 4.0, a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich, can reverse the trend?
via Read Write
Related posts:
January 19th, 2012
Poor WP7.
In this report for US: iOS – 44.5%, Android – 46.9%