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Surprise, surprise. Android is once again taking the top spot in OS share in yet another analytical report. This time Canalys is showing off some of their data, and while Apple has secured top billing in terms of device manufacturers for Q3 with 26 percent of the total market, Android (here listed under OHA for Open Handset Alliance) and its manufacturing partners take up almost half of OS share at 44 percent.
In bigger picture terms looking past the figures for Q3 alone, Android is up 1,309 percent from this time last year and now holds an impressive quarter of the smartphone market. Even with the advent of Windows Phone 7, Canalys is pegging Android as perhaps the most energized platform moving forward.
So now that all of the analytics tend to place Android in the upper echelon of mobile devices, we have to wonder how much longer the OS can sustain such rapid growth. When will the numbers eventually level out?
[via Canalys]
Android’s biggest task will be to get a larger market share globally, not just in the U.S. To do that, more low end handset development for the OS is needed. In the meantime, tablets getting released is going to help a ton. Should be interesting when the Q4 results are in, especially after the Christmas shopping makes impacts on overall sales.
I knew this was what was going to happen, but wow in less than 2years!!!!! Android is the future for sure!
android outsold iphone almost 2:1 that too in a quarter where new version of iPhone was released. And UI uplift and tablets aren’t even here yet!!
I don’t know why I love this stuff so much. I don’t have any stake in Android’s performance, but it still just tickles me. It’s like watching a football game.
@Aeires – I’m not sure what you mean. I’m under the impression that Android’s global performance is even stronger than in the US.
@GreenLeaf Yea this is hilarious when the Apple fanboys swore up and down that Android was gaining only because people were waiting to buy the iPhone 4. Now even with it out Android is crushing iOS.
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Over the weekend I went to visit the in-laws. And where there was a house full of iPhones only a year or two ago its not a house of Android devices. I’m seeing that all over the place. And it doesn’t fit the iFool idea that Android is only growing because people can’t get the iPhone on their network. These people HAD iPhones and now have Android devices. While riding back from the in-laws I was watching CNN video thanks to Flash on Android and they talked about some new apps and showed the Android version first. Android is no longer in the shadow of iPhone. Expect to see a wave of quality apps following news like this.
^Exactly. I dont understand why ppl think if/when the iPhone comes to Verizon it gonna kill Android or gonna make a huge dent in sales.
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@MAC
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Exactly. For it to be happening this fast is amazing. Last time this happened this fast…it was the when the iPhone first came out…lol. And even then I dont think it was this big of a jump and gap this fast. How you them apples, Apple…
Aeires,
android sold 20 million overall and since in US it is 9.1 million, that means more than 11 million in non-US countries
i too see all the analysts thinking that the iphone on verizon kills android. Does Anyone have any clue what percentage of android devices are on verizon? If it’s some crazy skew like 90% of all US android devices are on Verizon then perhaps putting apple on verizon could make a big hit. But if verizon only has like 50% of the android market in the US, I dont see how the verizon iphone could be enough to unseat android from the top.
Even if the iPhone comes to Verizon and does make a dent in Android sales figures it will just make Android compete harder. It’s the nature of technology to perpetually one up the other guy. It’s win-win for the consumer.
Bob, I sense that you’re disagreeing with Aeires’ comment but you’re only backing it up. Nearly half of Android phones are sold in the US – surely the US isn’t nearly half the world’s smartphone market? I’m sure it is the single biggest market, but even nearly as big as UK + Ireland + France + Netherlands + Germany + Canada + Republic of Korea + Japan + etc?
@James: Sales like Nokia worldwide was what I was talking about. They sell huge amounts of low end phones, which nets them a lot of capital in the long run. I know we all like our huge, hi powered phones, but a lot of people in the world cannot afford a phone like the EVO, Nexus, Droid, etc… Just like Intel captured both ends of the market with the Pentium and Celeron processors, so too should Google reach for both ends of the phone market with a variety of handsets that are not just top of the line, super phones. I read an article last week that reported the most sold phone of all time is the Nokia 1100, which isn’t nothing spectacular, but it meets a huge need in many places.
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Growth is good, and exciting to read about though. The longer Google continues to rise in market share, and activations, the better we all become as options become more available to the end user. It’s an exciting time and the future is looking bright for mobile users, thanks to Google for jumping in the market with Android.
Worldwide numbers:
Nokia/Symbian: 33%
OHA/Android: 25%
Apple/iOS: 17%
RIM/BB: 15%
Who said Android wasn’t doing that well outside the US?
When the iphone comes to Verizon the biggest loser will be AT&T. The iphone may see a bump in sales at first, but it will level off shortly there after.
Android is growing at an astonishing rate, I was at a wedding last week and I was surprised at how many HTC android phones I saw. I saw one guy with an iphone 4 ( he looked like a prick) that’s it.
$150 unlocked Android phones are coming such as this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ienjKudgC0s market share is going to increase even further.
Once the iPhone loses exclusivity, the carriers will no longer push it. At&t has started backing off the iPhone already, and we see here what that does to the sales figures. Apple will keep a loyal fan base that will buy anything Apple sells. If you look at sales, Apple is not being hurt that bad, Blackberry is taking the major hit, with Microsoft close behind.
The Android invasion is in full swing.