Analysts NPD are claiming that Android has crept past Apple to take the number two spot of most popular smartphone operating systems in the US. Based on figures from Q1 2010, Android-based devices accounted for 28-percent of smartphone unit sales, ahead of Apple’s iPhone OS at 21-percent but still lagging behind RIM’s BlackBerry OS at 36-percent.
You can read the full story here.
Keep in mind, however, that while total Android sales are higher, that the iPhone is limited to one provider (AT&T), one manufacturer (Apple) and only a select few models. Whereas the Android platform is on phones by several different manufacturers (HTC, Motorola, LG, Samsung, etc.), available on all major cellphone providers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) and is available on a dozen or so models and counting. Apple fan boys, not to be outdone by anything, are arguing the validity of this report based on that information. (They've been saying the same things based on Windows/MAC OS comparisons).
It's of course nobody's fault that Apple's marketing scheme is to make themselves out to be a super exclusive brand only sold to people who are willing to spend double for what comparable hardware costs on any other platform. Apple OS's are installed on Apple Computers with Apple hardware, so it's easy to understand that the Mac OS is exclusive to Apple phones. The Mac OS being sold on a Samsung or Motorola phone just isn't realistic. Apple has always been this way, and they aren't going to change their game any time soon.
What I really have a hard time understanding is why Apple refuses to expand itself to different providers other than AT&T? I'm sure their contract with AT&T must be a pretty sexy one (given that the biggest reason people even deal with that crap provider is to have an iPhone), but this study proves that all it does is hurt their sales. Blackberry and Android are on top now, and a big part of that is due to their product being available on a range of service providers, as opposed to only one.
I mean, don't get me wrong, Apple is cool; but the Android OS is built off of a Linux kernel, meaning you get way bigger geek points for having one. (And don't you want to be cool?) Not to mention you can run multiple apps at once, a multitasking capability that the current iPhones notoriously lack. To me, the answer is obvious, but I guess you'll have to tell me what you think.
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