Android #1: This'll make Jobs choke on his arugula

[Narmer]

It's hard to ignore these numbers.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/05/android-is-numero-uno-among-us-phone-buyers-over-the-last-six-mo/

Android is number one OS among US phone buyers over the last six months
By Vlad Savov posted Oct 5th 2010 12:56PM

​

BlackBerry OS? Dead! iOS? Dead! Symbian? Never stood a chance. Android's exponential growth has today been illustrated by Nielsen's statisticians who present us with the above chart of recent US smartphone purchases. It shows that over the six months leading up to August 2010, 32 percent of American new phone buyers had grabbed themselves a device with Google's OS on board, which is comfortably ahead of RIM at 26 percent and Apple at 25 percent. These results corroborate NPD's figures on the matter -- which peg Android at 33 percent of new US purchases -- and reiterate the idea that Android is headed to a place whose name starts with D and ends with omination. One more chart showing total market share can be found after the break (hint: BlackBerry still reigns supreme overall).

 

[Deeko]

One thing these charts don't show is actual sales, just compared to others. The smartphone market is ever-expanding. RIM and Apple are still selling more phones this year than they did last year. So while Android is obviously doing great, the others are still doing quite well for themselves too.

 

[Narmer]

One thing these charts don't show is actual sales, just compared to others. The smartphone market is ever-expanding. RIM and Apple are still selling more phones this year than they did last year. So while Android is obviously doing great, the others are still doing quite well for themselves too.

Yes, that is true. But Android is taking up an increasingly larger percentage of the pie. Considering Jobs massive ego, this will hurt like it hurt when Microsoft came to dominate the PC industry.

 

[MrX8503]

Looks like within that six months span Android is the only one that is going up. That is pretty impressive.

 

[rudeguy]

I take it June/July was when IP4 came out? That's a pretty massive spike for Apple.

While I used to love seeing Android's numbers go up, I actually miss the days when it was more nerds than not that had them. XDA is full of n00bs with no idea what a command line is let alone how Android works. Its so polluted with "how do I do X" threads that its barely readable anymore. There's more than a few of us who are thinking about helping these kind of people out by telling them how to brick their phones.

I like to think of it as cell phone Darwinism

 

[sactoking]

Chart 1
August '10
RIM increases from 25% to 26%
iOS decreases from 26% to 25%
RIM is shown physically as lower on the chart

 

[Deeko]

Chart 1
August '10
RIM increases from 25% to 26%
iOS decreases from 26% to 25%
RIM is shown physically as lower on the chart

WOW that's sleezy. And if you look when Android was at 26% earlier in the chart, it could be my eyes playing tricks on me, but it looks higher than both of those.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I take it June/July was when IP4 came out? That's a pretty massive spike for Apple.

While I used to love seeing Android's numbers go up, I actually miss the days when it was more nerds than not that had them. XDA is full of n00bs with no idea what a command line is let alone how Android works. Its so polluted with "how do I do X" threads that its barely readable anymore. There's more than a few of us who are thinking about helping these kind of people out by telling them how to brick their phones.

I like to think of it as cell phone Darwinism

You sure you don't have an iPhone?

But as pointed out, iPhone is one company making the phone and one carrier. Blackberry is one company making the phone but on multiple carriers. Android phones are made by several mfgers and on all major networks.
So when it comes to OS installation Google may reign supreme soon, but there will not be a phone maker that reigns supreme in the Android world.

 

[rudeguy]

You sure you don't have an iPhone?

Positive. Vibrant and a myTouch. If all goes well, I'll have a G2 tomorrow.

 

[gsaldivar]

nm

 

[akugami]

Yes, that is true. But Android is taking up an increasingly larger percentage of the pie. Considering Jobs massive ego, this will hurt like it hurt when Microsoft came to dominate the PC industry.

As Deeko states, this doesn't show sales numbers. Apple's iPhone sales numbers have increased year over year. It's just not increasing as fast as Android based phones. The smart phone market is ever expanding. What also isn't shown is that Apple probably makes more money off of the iPhone than all Android OEM's combined. Jobs is laughing all the way to the bank. I'm not saying Jobs likes that Android is surpassing the iPhone in sales but at the same time he's gotta be happy with how the iPhone is doing.

And that chart is all kinds of messed up.

 

[postmortemIA]

As Deeko states, this doesn't show sales numbers. Apple's iPhone sales numbers have increased year over year. It's just not increasing as fast as Android based phones. The smart phone market is ever expanding. What also isn't shown is that Apple probably makes more money off of the iPhone than all Android OEM's combined. Jobs is laughing all the way to the bank. I'm not saying Jobs likes that Android is surpassing the iPhone in sales but at the same time he's gotta be happy with how the iPhone is doing.

And that chart is all kinds of messed up.

That's double sword logic. He'd be happier if he got all Android sales, and he could - they are all smart phones after all. So for each android phone sold, apple loses a lot of profit.

 

[coolVariable]

Don't believe any chart that you haven't faked yourself.

Troll thread for trolls? Confirmed!

 

[akugami]

That's double sword logic. He'd be happier if he got all Android sales, and he could - they are all smart phones after all. So for each android phone sold, apple loses a lot of profit.

The iPhone is doing fantastic. Would Apple (and Steve Jobs) wish they had all smart phone sales? Of course. I'd also be happier if I had a harem and a trillion dollars but you gotta be realistic.

I know where you're coming from with the Apple loses money on each Android sold because that's one less iPhone sold but I don't think it is a realistic argument. While there are many Apple fanboys there are just as many anti-Apple fanboys who wish ill on Apple and all of their products. Then there are those who bought an Android phone which can be had pretty cheap vs an iPhone. So from that perspective, Apple can never have 100% of smart phone sales and many of the Android buyers would never have bought an iPhone in the first place.

It's the same reason why the MPAA, RIAA, and whomever else are using bogus numbers when talking about how much software piracy costs them. Many of those who commit copyright infringement would never have bought the songs or software in the first place. And many of those buying Android would not have bought an iPhone no matter what.

That's not to say that Android doesn't affect the profits of Apple and the iPhone. But to think that Jobs is somehow livid over Android when Apple is making money hand over fist is just unrealistic. Especially when some of the Android OEM's are fighting for scraps. And to say that every Android sold is a lost iPhone sales is also unrealistic.