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.
@N900
That's a horrible comparison. The iphones are by the same company, and the phones u mentioned are not. Android Will take over eventually is just a matter of time. its evolution...many different hardware manufacturers adding their own tweaks, such as sense ui, and eventually there will be super phones hehe.
@joshai Actually, the Desire, N1, and Incredible are all made by HTC.
I know that still doesn't make the game fair, since there are still a dozen other Samsung, LG, Moto phones running the OS.
Evolution is paramount. You've seen the widget music functionality in OS4, pretty soon the iPhone will get those extra goodies too =].
@joshai
Actually, all three of those phones are made by HTC.
@djzapp
There's actually 6 versions in use, but 3 of them have 1% of the share combined and all of the others have more than 21% each, hmm. Different versions doesn't equate to buggy software just because an app can't run on a specific version. Do Windows 7 apps work on Windows 3.1? Does that mean they're buggy?
@ilh they sad part is that the phones are only a few years if not months apart from each other. So yeah thats sad when the new twitter app can run on the droid but not the g1 or in some cases the mytouch 3g
@Doctor Kwame Nkrumah Congratulations, Apple haters. I am happy for you. More proof that if you don't like Apple products, you have plenty of choice. Meanwhile I choose to willingly spend my hard earned money buying Apple or any other product I like... hopefully without a little less condescension from you this time now that Android is doing better. By the way... I believe that once iPhone goes to other networks.. the numbers will change in Apple's favor.
Easy.
Motorola Droid Rules.
OS Android wake up since Motorola Droid get the record sales until now.
Motorola Droid sold 250.000 units (6 days), 1.05 million units (74 days) and 100 milion units soon as possible.
GO UP TO HEAVEN "ANDROID"
GO DOWN TO HELL "iPHONE".
No more bit&hing at android for fragmentation. Apple will be doing it come this summer. OS4 on the new iphone, while upgrades to the iphone 3gs and ipad don't take place till late fall, while the 3g will be lost forever. Android is fixing the frag issue while apple is beginning
@dswatson83 Apple never said the 3GS would have to wait until the fall for an upgrade, only the iPad... And since the iPad isn't a phone, i dont think people will really consider that "fragmentation"- if there's an iPad specific app, most likely it isn't good for the iPhone's tiny screen anyway, and if it is, then it's probably universal.
Upgrading the OS and its supported hardware over years time isn't really "fragmentation" any more than it is for any software that eventually requires a new device. What people are talking about are devices released in the same quarter that somehow have old versions of an OS that can't be upgraded, or hardware features that differ enough that software can't be used between devices that were released in the same short time period, etc...
@abedinthehouse doubtful. They use metrics like hardware revenue which is presumably higher than companies who give buy one get one free deals on their phones.
BB is N1 in the US smartphone market? Why? Why this I-Can-ony-send-&-receive-emails business oriented device outs android?
I imagine SJ: We are not the second,but we are gonna be the best..."
Watch your a## , Steve
This will change once iPhone goes to Verizon.
Well, well, looks like Apple fucked up. Time to swallow your pride Steve and bring the iPhone to Verizon.
uh oh, does this mean we are going to start hearing about Android as a "gaming platform" and being a "threat to the DS"? :-)
@xombiii
God, I hope not, I haven't played a game on a touchscreen phone (or any phone, period) that's comparable in depth and smoothness of control to a game on a portable gaming console.
iPhone games usually suck and I'm pretty sure Android games are going to suck too, unless someone releases a phone that also has a D-pad or an analog stick or something.
@DaveBrubeck
Wow, you haven't been paying much attention lately... called the Motorola Droid / Milestone. Admittedly the default D-Pad locatoin's not great but you stlil get physical buttons and can use this: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/14/game-gripper-puts-your-droid-s-d-pad-where-it-belongs-video/
congratulations my lil green android!
@BigIberg What, no Blackberry hate?
i'll bet Apple execs are already on their knees (and under desks) in Verizon's offices -- anything to get their device on a real network.
@TBolt
I could def. see Jobs on his knees trying to get a guy to agree to something. LOL
@TBolt
Falling on deaf ears. Verizon won't take it until they beat it into submission. Nor should they.
@Bosco I'd like to buy that, but I can't. There are so many sheep waiting for the jesus-phone to break free of AT&T, Verizon knows the POS will sell.
@TBolt It's personal between Jobs and Seidenberg. The latter doesn't like what Jobs has done to the cell phone business model. Starving Apple for a few months will reap great long-term rewards.
@TBolt
Careful with the sheep references. "Sheep" indicates people that blindly buy whatever is the most popular. According to this report, that would be Android.
Are you a sheep? It looks like it to me.
@Jack lol...you really think I bought an Android device because it was the popular thing to do? really? it's sad when sheep don't even know they're sheep. good luck, Jack.
@TBolt
dang... you told him
@Doctor Kwame Nkrumah
Verizon could care less about Android's numbers moron. The more people they get two get smart phones whether they buy them or get them free, then the more they're making off their smartphone plans each month. wow!!
Android is garbage
@Mori
Not according to NPD and the majority of Americans buying smartphones
@Mori garbage beats iphone OS
@Mori
you should change your name to moron. maybe you just miss spelled it
@elijahblake You should change your name to elijahculate
@elijahblake Ye but the rest of the world agrees with mori. When it comes to technology trends America tend to do the opposite of what the rest of the world.
Shall I pull out some GLOBAL smartphone Market share numbers for u? Believe me majority of consumers outside US have no idea
WTF android is.
Looking at your posts i would say you are the one that needs to change your name to moron.
@sl86 Then the majority of users outside US don't know what Apple and iPhone is. But they do know Nokia exceptionally well.
@sl86
go ahead and back yourself up with that data please... we're waiting for those numbers
Google does't care about profits from the devices, they only care about there search engine on as many devices as possible. So adding up iPhone + Android market share is what matters to google.
we had a good run
Sent from my iPhone
It's my second favorite Android, next to Data from Star Trek TNG.
"The growth for Android was attributed largely to strong carrier support -- like Verizon's buy-one-get-one free offer "
So giving shit away beat paying for something? What a revelation.
@Motlee
A two year contract isn't giving something away - especially true in this magical place called 'the rest of the ******* world' where you can get ANY phone you like free on contract - 0$ upfront. You can also get the iphone on more than one carrier (so I strongly suspect android isn't yet beating iphone in the stats here, will be interesting to see how long that takes though)
@Bratyr That must be nice. I'd still rather pay for an iPhone than have an Android, at least until they work out some of the kinks.
@Motlee
you must be delusional... kinks!? really?!! enlighten me please...
you can tell you dont know WTF you're talking about.
Apple fanboy rhetoric
@oxymoreon Seriously? You have the nerve to call me a fanboy when it is you that is implying that Android is without any flaws? Thats is the definition of fanaticism and hypocrisy all rolled up into one.
@abedinthehouse
So long as one platform doesn't have to clout to dictate the direction of other aspects of the industry I'll be happy. Web sites should not have to write device specific content (form factor yes - but not manufacturer). Cars should not have ipod connectivity, it should be open bluetooth/USB connectivity. Content should be available through open outlets to all platforms.
ha ha ha....
jobs must be pulling the rest of his hair out after getting to know this news!!!!
Is there somewhere I can find an in-depth write-up on the Android OS?
I am planning on moving forward to the EVO 4G come June and would like to know how much different is the OS from the windows mobile version I have on the HTC HD2.
@bhagiratha
Google
@Bratyr
seriously !!!
what's an iphone?