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Mobile share reports put Android in first for ads, RIM with most subscribers
Two big mobile market share reports have just released, both of them offering up some interesting news for Apple in the world of mobile phone OS users. First up, IDC's report sends Google's Android OS to a whopping 59 percent share, up from 48.6 percent last year. Apple, IDC says, will likely finish with less than 10 percent of the total market. That's not necessarily bad news -- Apple is one company, and Google's Android phone comes in a variety of flavors from different manufacturers. IDC also says the mobile ad market has reached US$368 million, double what it was last year, and may double again next year to almost $2 billion. That's a big pizza pie, of which Apple currently has around 8 percent thanks to iAd. comScore has also released a mobile trends report, sitting Apple behind RIM in the top smartphone subscribers. The difference here is that comScore's looking at subscribers, not users, and RIM's large enterprise base allows it some leeway here. RIM has 36 percent of the market compared to Apple's 25 percent, though in just the past few months, RIM has fallen over three points. There's also some information about how people are using their smartphones, and the number one usage, according to comScore, is text messaging, with 68 percent of mobile subscribers texting. Browsing on the phone, and downloading and using apps also both score high, but strangely, nowhere on the list is there information that anyone, you know, actually uses their phones to call people. Maybe that's just assumed?
