NPD: Android ousts iPhone OS for second place in US smartphone market
By Donald Melanson 
posted May 10th 2010 12:23PM
posted May 10th 2010 12:23PM
"We're number two" might not be the chant everyone's after, but we have a feeling that Google is more than satisfied with that in this case... for now. According to market research firm NPD, Google's Android operating system edged up into second place in the US smartphone market during the first quarter of the year, leaving it still well behind RIM's BlackBerry OS, but marking the first time that it has moved ahead of Apple's iPhone OS. Specifically, NPD found that RIM maintained a strong 36 percent market share for the quarter, with Android coming in at 28 percent, and iPhone OS in third at 21 percent. The growth for Android was attributed largely to strong carrier support -- like Verizon's buy-one-get-one free offer which, incidentally, also helped Verizon maintain a 30 percent smartphone market share, which is just slightly behind AT&T at 32 percent, and ahead of T-Mobile and Sprint at 17 and 15 percent, respectively.
Disclaimer: NPD's Ross Rubin is a contributor to Engadget.
Disclaimer: NPD's Ross Rubin is a contributor to Engadget.
Android Shakes Up U.S. Smartphone Market
First quarter 2010 information from The NPD Group's Mobile Phone Track reveals a shift in the smartphone market, as Android OS edged out Apple's OS for the number-two position behind RIM
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Android operating system (OS) continued to shake up the U.S. mobile phone market in the first quarter (Q1) of 2010, moving past Apple to take the number-two position among smartphone operating systems, according to The NPD Group, a leading market research company. NPD's wireless market research reveals that based on unit sales to consumers last quarter the Android operating system moved into second position at 28 percent behind RIM's OS (36 percent) and ahead of Apple's OS (21 percent).
"As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share"
"As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share," said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. "In order to compete with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless has expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to now include all of their smartphones."
Strong sales of the Droid, Droid Eris, and Blackberry Curve via these promotions helped keep Verizon Wireless's smartphone sales on par with AT&T in Q1. According to NPD's Mobile Phone Track, smartphone sales at AT&T comprised nearly a third of the entire smartphone market (32 percent), followed by Verizon Wireless (30 percent), T-Mobile (17 percent) and Sprint (15 percent).
"Recent previews of BlackBerry 6, the recently announced acquisition of Palm by HP, and the pending release of Windows Phone 7 demonstrates the industry's willingness to make investments to address consumer demand for smartphones and other mobile devices," Rubin said. "Carriers continue to offer attractive pricing for devices, but will need to present other data-plan options to attract more customers in the future."
The continued popularity of messaging phones and smartphones resulted in slightly higher prices for all mobile phones, despite an overall drop in the number of mobile phones purchased in the first quarter. The average selling price for all mobile phones in Q1 reached $88, which is a 5 percent increase from Q1 2009. Smartphone unit prices, by comparison, averaged $151 in Q1 2010, which is a 3 percent decrease over the previous year.
Methodology: The NPD Group compiles and analyzes mobile device sales data based on more than 150,000 completed online consumer research surveys each month. Surveys are based on a nationally balanced and demographically-representative sample, and results are projected to represent the entire population of U.S. consumers. Note: Sales figures do not include corporate/enterprise mobile phone sales.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,800 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, contact us, visit http://www.npd.com/, or follow us Twitter at https://twitter.com/npdgroup.
First quarter 2010 information from The NPD Group's Mobile Phone Track reveals a shift in the smartphone market, as Android OS edged out Apple's OS for the number-two position behind RIM
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Android operating system (OS) continued to shake up the U.S. mobile phone market in the first quarter (Q1) of 2010, moving past Apple to take the number-two position among smartphone operating systems, according to The NPD Group, a leading market research company. NPD's wireless market research reveals that based on unit sales to consumers last quarter the Android operating system moved into second position at 28 percent behind RIM's OS (36 percent) and ahead of Apple's OS (21 percent).
"As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share"
"As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share," said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. "In order to compete with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless has expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to now include all of their smartphones."
Strong sales of the Droid, Droid Eris, and Blackberry Curve via these promotions helped keep Verizon Wireless's smartphone sales on par with AT&T in Q1. According to NPD's Mobile Phone Track, smartphone sales at AT&T comprised nearly a third of the entire smartphone market (32 percent), followed by Verizon Wireless (30 percent), T-Mobile (17 percent) and Sprint (15 percent).
"Recent previews of BlackBerry 6, the recently announced acquisition of Palm by HP, and the pending release of Windows Phone 7 demonstrates the industry's willingness to make investments to address consumer demand for smartphones and other mobile devices," Rubin said. "Carriers continue to offer attractive pricing for devices, but will need to present other data-plan options to attract more customers in the future."
The continued popularity of messaging phones and smartphones resulted in slightly higher prices for all mobile phones, despite an overall drop in the number of mobile phones purchased in the first quarter. The average selling price for all mobile phones in Q1 reached $88, which is a 5 percent increase from Q1 2009. Smartphone unit prices, by comparison, averaged $151 in Q1 2010, which is a 3 percent decrease over the previous year.
Methodology: The NPD Group compiles and analyzes mobile device sales data based on more than 150,000 completed online consumer research surveys each month. Surveys are based on a nationally balanced and demographically-representative sample, and results are projected to represent the entire population of U.S. consumers. Note: Sales figures do not include corporate/enterprise mobile phone sales.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,800 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, contact us, visit http://www.npd.com/, or follow us Twitter at https://twitter.com/npdgroup.
Oh dear...the flames will be high and hot on this one.
@Tes My firehose can't a flamewar of this magnitude.
*repel* =P
@Tes
Wheres a firefighter, I have a feeling they with have their hands full
@Tes
Yeah, and lot of "burn" will be involved!
@Tes
Before you all go crazy...YES we know iPhone OS is only on a few devices, yes we know Android is fractured to hell, yes we know Apple has an archaic approval process, yes we know Android has more "features" than iPhone OS, yes we know iPhone OS is catching up.
Flamers...please, tell us something we DON'T know.
@Tes I only wonder is this a info that Apple (SJ) will present on WWDC
@Tes
And just think, All of us at ATT haven't even had a chance to buy a GOOD Android yet.
These numbers are probably going to jump to number 1 spot once we actually have some good options. I know sooooo many people with the iphone that are wanting an Android.
@Tes
On your mark...
Get set...
Troll!
@elijahblake
Similarly the ones with verizon haven't had a chance to buy iPhone yet!
And survey says they want to!
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Verizon-Customers-Suffer-from-iPhone-Jealousy-Says-Survey-784099/
@Tes aww poor guy got his ego bruised.
@who said what I wonder when this smartphone market will get saturated...
@ydoucare
You're a strange fellow...any explanation of what you're talking about or should we all just guess at your cryptic ramblings?
@elijahblake I'm on AT&T and I have a nexus one.
@elijahblake But 50% of AT&Ts subscribers wouldn't even be with them if it wasn't for the iPhone, so I don't think many would buy an android. On the other hand, if the iPhone was on Verizon, there's a good chance the iPhone OS would beat out android, though it might be too late now to get back in second place.
@Tes
i think 1 thing to keep in mind is that its currently may. almost june, normal time for a new iphone. people dont normally buy an iphone before a new one hits the shelves.
with that said...theres been a slew of new android devices in the past couple months. that could contribute to the increase in android sales compared to the lack of iphone sales.
i think this should be 're-looked at' come july or august
@Tes
with trepidation I hovered on the comments button, would the blood letting be worse than "from beyond", could the body parts be stacked higher than "quake 2"...
And yet it was more like a nuclear standoff, everyone knowing but just sorta standing back in mutual respect or something..
Gawd knows, perhaps it was mutual fear of another global ban like the iPad fiasco that devestated the threads of early 2010.
Strange times indeed. I'm outta here, too many loaded quivering arsenals
@Cy Starkman Oh, that was nice. I am expecting more posts like this :)
@who said what
There are some people not living in reality. one phone vs many hardware options, and an o/s that is equal or better to the iphone. The iphone will cater to a niche market in the end. And verizon or not, over time one option vs many will push Android to the top.
@Cy Starkman
Loved your post! Summarizes the feelings of lot of fingers on left mouse button pointed at the +/- buttons! :)
@Cy Starkman
As a user of both platforms I have respect for both. Seeing as I had the choice I went with Android on the phone and still have the iPod Touch. I would love for Android (with HTC sense on my phone) to have all the polise of iPhone OS but, I know there are things that frustrated the hell out of me on the iPod and adding phone hardware wouldn't have solved them. On the other hand the apps on Android are coming along but are nowhere near the quality you find in the app store. Both app stores are full of spam and rubbish, but it seems Android reviewers are a little more honest (trust me, select the most mediocre iPhone game and check the reviews...tell me you don't see "best game EVARRR!!" in there) and the added bonus of being able to uninstall for a full refund is the killer feature.
@joshai
I agree with you...
In that respect, iPhone might be headed the way macs were back when they were flooded by the PCs running Windows.
Hey but where's the fun at engadget, if you sit back and let events take their own turns and don't argue over numbers and graphs!
Iphone, 1 Device 1 US carrier a year.
Andoid, tons of different devices, all carriers a year.
Go figure.
@Tes
The figures are in, and Skynet is pleased.
=P
@elijahblake "I know sooooo many people with the iphone that are wanting an Android."
Uh huh. And I know sooooo many people with Android that are wanting an iPhone.
Lame anecdotal evidence is lame.
@doug Exactly. It'll be more interesting to see the yearly results after all the new devices come out (iphone 4, Evo, etc.). Quarter to quarter results are skewed in favor of Android due to more updated devices in a given year (many) vs. 1 for apple. Competition is good.
@Tes Now if only we could get some sort of Marketplace app and a real program to sync contacts.
@Tes: Anybody wanna tell me why Blackberry still has more than iOS and Android? Almost everyone I know have iOS.... and one guy has Android. Two actually.. need to get to know some more geeks in real life......
@Tes
People better not start saying 1 phone vs many because who's fault in the first place was signing a exclusivity agreement. So please save those arguments people.
@Tes God bless you sir! You have just squashed all future comments lol! I feel like i'm sitting in a room full of crickets because no one has anything to say!
@Tes
You have very much hit the nail on every head. I applaud you, good sir
@Tes
Fortunately, Android market share does not help Google's revenue one bit. Even if Android grabs 60% market share, Apple's iPhone will be the major revenue producer in the smartphone industry. Android was always set up to be the poor man's smartphone so it will indeed capture major market share. Apple will just have to settle for major revenue share.
@blenderman345 corp's thats why most companies still wont allow anything but black berrys
@staticjethro
With 3 iPhone models on 1 carrier, and 20+ Android models on multiple carriers there's no way in he'll it won't sell more, Thats why Ford sells more cars then BMW. Just common sense.
@blenderman345 To answer the question: Why Blackberry still has more than iOS and Android?
Corporate adoption of iPhone is exceptionally low. RIM provides excellent infrastructure and services to corporations. It's the same situation as with Mac's in enterprises. And a lot of people just don't want to buy another phone, if they have one given them by their employer.
@MosesusedaniPad yea Im sure that HTC has no benefits as well...
@Tes
Not breaking news???
:s
@who said what my thoughts exactly.... I guess Apple hasn't learnt anything from their past. It would be freaking funny as hell to see Apple lose to Google(Android) just like it did to MS back then.
@Mikeserena
Yea the many devices claim really pisses me off. People seem to use the 1 vs Many argument for any occasion they can and make it suit their needs. It is either a positive or negative, it should not be both.
They first claim 'their' OS is better as it is optimised for one device then when they fine out they have less sales they claim the only reason 'their' OS is loosing in sales is because its unfair that it is 1 vs Many.
I just don't understand how anyone can use the 1 vs Many idea as a valid point against why android has gone ahead. They make it sound like android is cheating but seem to then forget that it is Apples choice to only allow the iPhone OS to only run on iPhones.
In the end the way is see it is the OS sitting in the highest number of pockets wins. It does not matter how many different devices it is on. With that in mind, Android has a long way to go but this is a start.
@MosesusedaniPad
My "poor man's smartphone" does more than my 3gs could ever do (yes it was jailbroken) and it does so faster, with a nicer screen, and removable/replaceable battery/storage.
If you clearly don't know the product in question you have no room to pass it off as inferior.
@doug
I believe people is starting to have trouble to justify expending so much on a mobile phone every year, the data plan, the iPad, a netbook, an electric car, all those frackin' apps, music and movies everybody is trying to sell. Wives wil start to ask for internal auditing, and a lockdown on stupid expenses... but hey, we are tech freaks, and as with many other addictions this will end up badly, won't it?
@engadgetcomexcludeengadget
looks guys its a stat maker.... Don't you love these guys.. wow so 50% of att subscribers have an iphone huh. Proves the theory that 98% of statistics are made up!!!
@Tes +1 my friend you just saved us a bunch of "already heard that" shit
@pyepye
Yes Apple has the choice, and for a while Android was only available on T-Mobile.
The point is that currently, the iPhones being offered by AT&T are both old (one exceptionally older than the other), and everyone knows there is a new iPhone coming out (even your mom saw it on Good Morning America), so obviously the 3G and 3GS are not going to sell as well right now. Add that to the fact that Android is available on every major carrier, many with multiple choices, and there's an obvious explanation why Android has beaten iPhone OS for one single quarter of sales.
People are looking at this as if it's overall market share, and it's not. Last time we saw those figures, iPhone was 26% with Android at 5%, am I right? I am really not trying to oppose Android, I love Android, I'm just trying to be objective.
@arbeck77 Me too and I love my Nexus One
@pyepye
How is the one v. many argument not valid? If you are looking at total sales volumes then it makes sense. I'm not saying it's a bad thing that iPhone OS is third, however to alienate such facts makes Android seem even less remarkable not more. And I love all the buy one get one on BB and now Android devices, almost as if they are only trying to get market share. Great business decision because it's working. I'm fine with my device being third, or last, just as long as I'm happy with my user experience.
@doug
the thing you are missing my friend is that these are 1st quarter #'s. That means Jan-March. They are not a snapshot of today. However, I do think Apple will jump back in front in Q2. Definitely if they get on more carriers. I think that should be the biggest takeaway: iPhone needs to hit Verizon and Sprint.
If anyone in interested in a more graphical representation of the market share of the phone OSes here is the link of the report by SeekingAlpha: http://seekingalpha.com/article/204301-npd-claims-android-s-army-passes-iphone-os
or just the image : http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2010/5/10/saupload_npd051010a.jpg
@locked At that rate......Number 1 by end of summer.
I for one welcome my Google masters.
@jellotime91 Yeah, it seems the article is definitely referring to "market share". Another source confirmed it, with a graph that supports the figures you were likely looking at before:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/204301-npd-claims-android-s-army-passes-iphone-os
If the figures you were looking at were Q2-3 2009, then yes, this confirms it. What a turn of events.