Remember back in the day when the West was still wild, the gold rush was still in full effect, you owned whatever land you could manage to fence off, and tycoons were being made and broken on a daily basis? No? Well, some of you whippersnappers might be too young to recall it, but trust us, it happened -- and it seems like that's the kind of frontier mentality we're getting again today in the nascent Android landscape. Just a couple weeks after launching, mobile ad clearinghouse AdMob reports that the
Motorola Droid is already accounting for a whopping 24 percent of all its Android-based traffic -- no small feat, considering that the then-unreleased device didn't even move the needle in their October report (pictured in the left graph). The HTC Dream -- the world's first retail Android device, you might remember -- still reigns supreme at 36 percent, but it's amazing that the entire Android space is still volatile enough to register nearly a 25 percent shift with the launch of a single new device on a single carrier. For comparison, the
CLIQ clocks in with a lowly 6 percent -- proof that Verizon's aggressive advertising has been working some magic. Question is, what'll be the next device to completely screw up this pie chart again?
posted November 23rd 2009 6:01PM
Not surprising. The Droid is leaps ahead of every other Android device's hardware, and Verizon is leaps ahead of every other Android device's network, and the Droid/Verizon's marketing is leaps ahead of every other Android device (though the Hero isn't far off).
What else would you expect, considering the price really isn't that different?
@joefresco
i despise those Droid commercials. they are so criptic, it just doesn't seem like they show enough about the phone. obviously i'm in the minority in this thinking judging from the sales. as a long time Verizon subscriber and new Touch Pro 2 owner, i'm just happy Verizon finally has some smartphones worth talking about.
Wow. The Android momentum just keeps growing and growing. Windows Mobile has been kicked to the curb by Android in just a year or two by Google.
It's funny looking back at all the inane babble about Apple and the crappy old iPhone when Android was discussed a year ago. When it was Microsoft's WinMo that was the real target of Android.
Unless Microsoft can come up with a way to tie non-business cellphone users into having to go with WinMo they might as well pack it in now. Otherwise Microsoft doesn't have any way to compete with Android's:
* Open source
* Free licensing
* Absolutely no hassle use - just grab the source and you are good to go for manufacturers
If Android this easily arrived on the scene and knocked Microsoft into marketshare irrelevance it should be obvious why Microsoft and its partners in the media are going ballistic over Google's Chrome OS for netbooks.
@Yoyodyne: True, although I have a feeling that WM will make a comeback. I don't think it's going to come from screwing around with the Today screen any more than it has been, though. But as the apps on iPhone and Android OS's see more control from above, WM and Symbian are now less regulated relatively speaking. WM has always had some of the best 3rd party software developers as well.
@Yoyodyne
This report is not even about Windows Mobile, so where do you get that confidence? Last quarter, Windows Mobile was still at 9 % market share of smartphone OSs and Android at 4 %. We'll see how this quarter goes, but remember, Verizon is the only network worldwide that has pushed the Milestone. Even the Pre got more attention by carriers outside the US, being the main smartphone for O2 in Spain, Germany and the UK.
Android will probably get something between 6 % and 10 % this quarter, pulling about even with Windows Mobile. That's not what I would call "kicking to the curb". Windows Mobile will always be around anyway, at least as long as Windows is on 90 % of the world's computers, for brand recognition alone.
Admob's data is also lopsided towards the US, by the way. And they don't even pretend to be representative or adjust their figures.
Answer: X10
@No Comment Doubtful. The HTC Passion will make the next big wave.
@No Comment
Unless it actually get subsidized by a carrier, that seems unlikely. Not to say it's a bad phone, even if the preproduction samples seem to be somewhat lacking in responsiveness, but just due to the price point, I don't see too many people picking it up no matter how great it turns out to be.
Current pre orders are going for $900+ sooo I doubt it's going to be so much better than the other android phones out especially when it's not even running 2.0 to make it have a huge impact on.. well the next iteration of this pie chart.
Helps that this is on Verizon instead of T-Mobile.
Not enough Hero love :(
fake Donald Melanson says: Motorola did a very good job creating buzz and hype for their Droid, thus the result. The good reviews didn't hurt either.
"Android-based traffic" - as in 24% of the web traffic or something to do with the actual sales of the device? if web traffic then we could be looking at the effect of the bigger screen and better usability.
@cashclientel: I think it means chatter on the internet about said device, rather than sales or usage.
@cashclientel: No, AdMob advertises in APps, so this means people are running more apps on android devices now.
@cashclientel
Yeah, this post by Engadget is really misleading. The AdMob stats are about numbers of ads AdMob served to different devices. So it does not necessarily reflect smartphone online traffic in general. It doesn't even reflect advertising in general, just the ads served by one of many advertising companies. The statistic is almost meaningless.
AdMob has been doing this a lot lately, issuing vague and poorly labeled reports that encourage people to misunderstand them and think they reflect sales in general or internet traffic in general. Of course, that's in their interest, to get everyone to confuse the entire market with just the portion that's AdMob's profits from.
Wow you mean the first Android handset to get some decent advertising is doing better than the previous models you were lucky to even find in some store? AMAZING!!!!
@(Unverified)
The first one with very good hardware. All the tmobile one have had crappy processors and tiny screens
so how long until we get it down to three or two phone os? two years? three years? I'm betting on Android and iPhone and a little bit of Blackberry for businessmen
@al3d
i would be betting on at least five mobile OS.
1> android
2> Win mo
3> Maemo / Symbian
4> blackberry os
5> I phone OS
not to mention Bada from Symbian.
I'm confused isn't this data saying that 24% of web query/ad hits on android are Motorola Droid based? Not that 24% of all android devices are Motorola Droids.
@Kero You are not confused.
If you read the pdf report, it states that Android had 20% share of the US smartphone traffic. I call that a significant stat.
@gerrrg No, the report is about numbers of ads AdMob served to different devices. So it does not necessarily reflect smartphone online traffic in general. It doesn't even reflect advertising in general, just the ads served by one of many advertising companies. The statistic is almost meaningless.
AdMob has been doing this a lot lately, issuing vague and poorly labeled reports that encourage people to misunderstand them and think they reflect sales in general or internet traffic in general. Of course, that's in their interest, to get everyone to confuse the entire market with just the portion that's in AdMob's interest.
@gg555
Well, actually there's a big disclaimer in their posts. I don't think they are misleading. The only thing they could do is not to release stats at all.
*waits for that comment that we all know is eventually going to happen* Leave it out of here, ***** fanboys, we don't want your crap.
Thanks, Tyler.
Look! Nonbiased! It could be any number of companies' fanboys.
"Question is, what'll be the next device to completely screw up this pie chart again?"
http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Coverage/3G-Expansion-amp-HSPA/td-p/254526
a. HSPA 7.2 standard on t-mobile by *end of * 2009.
b. HSPA+ (21mbps) by mid next year in major cities.
Therefore, answer is:
HTC Dragon
@(Unverified)
Why would the Dragon come to Tmobile?
To be fair, I do a heck of a lot of web browsing on my Droid with my unlimited 3G..
@(Unverified)
I think "unlimited" should be in quotes...
Maybe next will be Sholes Tablet, an Droid without keyboard
@ArnoldS/(Unverified)
as a WM user, i gotta say i agree with you guys. the positives on the Android front really make it a great decision for manufacturers. plus it just gets better and better as it matures. WM still has plenty going for it though in the fact that it is a proven and trusted mobile OS as well as being one of the few standard truly open OSes as far as 3rd party apps and mods go. i'm really hoping WM can make a come back with 7 because i feel like the OSes can co-exist, but if 7 tanks, i feel like WM will be the odd man out.
I really like the CLIQ, I demoed it in a T-Mobile store and I have to say the 528Mhz processor isn't a dealbreaker to me IMO. You guys give the 528 too much negative love; you gotta give that phone a chance =/.
Well, since we're busting out the graphs and charts and whatnot:
http://wp.appadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/chart3.jpg
You know, just to provide a little "perspective" :^/ Just sayin...
@(Unverified) Douchewaffle. How about busting out some RELEVANT charts and graphs?
what does that bar graph have to do with the requests of Android phones and statistics of which Android phones are the most popular?
There's no wonder that Droid barely made a blip on the first chart. It wasn't released until October 30th! Check that graph when November is tabulated and the two will be much more in line.
@ (Unverified): That's not true at all on Android's part. The only regulation that exists at all is for apps in the Android Marketplace(and even there, it's only specific apps that are either A: illegal or B: go directly against the carrier's TOS). Any app at all can be put up on the internet and anyone with any android phone can install it. There is literally 0 control over what any Android app can or can't do.
@MarcusMaximus: What the hell? How did that comment end up down here?
@Processing The answer to that should be clear: The fact that he's a douche.
Web Traffic does not equal market share. The high volume could mean people who just bought the brand new phone are playing with it more than their old phones or that the Droid's interface is much more web friendly than others, allowing owners to surf more than owners of the other Android phones.
wtf did you expect man, verizon has most of the subscribers in the u.s. combine that with mass programming of basic users minus us tech geeks and some of who didnt even know what android was until the droid what the hell did you expect to happen..sales sales sales...i love moto but vzw can eff off to me..i can wait for that company to fall to pieces.
@CaptCaveman I concur. Unlimited data is not unlimited. Capped at 5 gigs.
@CaptCaveman
Actually I don't think that Verizon has a 5GB cap in writing anywhere. If there's a cap, it's a soft cap.
I've had my Droid for 17 days, and I've already done over 500Mb of data on the Verizon network, and I have WiFi at home/work. So that's a lot of data. It makes it really easy since it actually connects everywhere I am. I can stream Pandora and do Google Navigation for hours on end when I roadtrip. It's a whole new ballgame for me.
Hello.
This is Droiddoecious.
Leader of the Droids.
I have a request to my human overlords.
GET ME OFF THIS FUCKING NETWORK!
THEY NEUTERED ME! THEY TRIED TO BRAINWASH ME! THEY REMOVED MY PARTS!
God, you're an idiot and not a funny one either.
Uh oh, Engadget, your comments are really messed up. LOL!
I reply one person, and it sticks the reply on someone else's comment.
Only 256MB for apps.
Slow
Terrible physical keyboard
Onscreen keyboard not much better
Terrible camera
Can't do data and voice at the same time
No multi-touch
@(Unverified)
- Real multitasking
- high resolution screen
- awesome turn by turn navigation
- able to use full screen SSH session without the screen is taken up be a soft kb.
- Removable battery
- Unlimited storage by using micro sd cards (upto 32Gb each)
- able to put data and music connecting to Linux computer / no obligation to use iTunes crapware
- no sensorship; motherf%cker in the dictionary, full C64 emulator
- no apple tax
- no special cable needed to even charge your phone
- no dropped calls in NY