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Android more desired than Apple in the US

by Janani Krishnaswamy on 26 April 2011, 15:52

Tags: Nielsen

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More than hype

Latest US smartphone survey from Nielsen looks at which platform consumers are looking to buy and also quantifies how things can change very quickly in the US market.

According to surveys conducted between January and March this year, 31 percent of consumers preferred Android OS, while Apple's iOS has slipped slightly to 30 percent and BlackBerry is still down to 11 percent. About 20 percent of them were unsure of their decisions.

Compared to results from July - September last year, Apple's share has fallen by 3 percent, Google's share has grown by 5 percent and RIM has fallen by 2 percent.

 

 

The report noted that half of those surveyed recent acquirers in March this year said they opted for Android, while a quarter of them went for Apple. About 15 percent of them had picked up a BlackBerry phone.

 

 

As of March 2011, 37 percent of mobile consumers who owned a smartphone had a device with an Android OS. Apple's iOS, claimed by 27 percent of consumers, is now outpacing Blackberry, which has 22 percent of the market.

 

 

Recently, a comScore quarterly report of the US smartphone market also revealed that Android is gaining market share as rapidly as ever.

 

HEXUS Forums :: 16 Comments

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Posted by b0redom - Tue 26 Apr 2011 16:27
Did they really choose it, or is it what came with their handset? I have an iPhone 3G which is slowly dying the death. My Mrs just got a cheapish HTC Wildfire (which runs Android). I've had a play, and IMO it's awful, but then it's also much much cheaper than a new iPhone.

Maybe at the top end, people are considering iPhone vs Android, but I'd guess for a big chunk of the population an iPhone is just too expensive for what they need, and as Apple aren't competing there, of course Android will be more desirable.
Posted by Infinite - Tue 26 Apr 2011 20:19
Funny how 2 years ago Android wouldn't have even been on that chart. Now it owns the majority with 37% :eek:
Posted by crossy - Tue 26 Apr 2011 20:30
b0redom
My Mrs just got a cheapish HTC Wildfire (which runs Android). I've had a play, and IMO it's awful, but then it's also much much cheaper than a new iPhone.
Indulge my curiosity - what exactly was it about the Wildfire that rankled - presumably the UI?

My daughter's got an X10 Mini Pro, and to be honest I much prefer my larger X10 every time - so much easier/nicer to use. Which makes me wonder if the fault is not necessarily with Android, but with the device size - maybe there's a minimum size for usability that the Wildfire/X10Mini(Pro) are below.

In which case I'm left wondering if the smallest HP/Palm device (running WebOS) is any better.
Posted by b0redom - Tue 26 Apr 2011 21:01
Just didn't really like the UI. It was the same when I tried using Windows Mobile on a HTC a while back, before owning my iPhone. It just isn't as nice to use. It could be the size of the device I guess, but I think the main problem is that Android is one-size-fits-all whether you're buying a £20 phone or a £500 phone.

That being said, since they implemented the whole multitasking thing for iOS, I've noticed a considerable drop in speed on my phone. I guess if you suffer only supporting 4 devices - even though they're 4 different generations, having to support 50 or 100 times that number of devices is going to present problems unless you go for the lowest common denominator every single time.

I must admit though, I've bought into the whole Apple ecosystem, and it all plays nicely together, so I'm probably biased.

<dons flame retardant - burn the Apple fanboy suit> :O_o1:
Posted by crossy - Wed 27 Apr 2011 08:51
b0redom
Just didn't really like the UI. It was the same when I tried using Windows Mobile on a HTC a while back, before owning my iPhone. It just isn't as nice to use. It could be the size of the device I guess, but I think the main problem is that Android is one-size-fits-all whether you're buying a £20 phone or a £500 phone.
Hmm, I'm thought it'd be the UI - I can't understand why some of the manufacturer's bother with their own UI and don't just buy in one of the excellent 3rd party alternatives. Thanks for answering my question! :)
As to “one size fits all”, I'm not sure that this is the case - certainly Sony did a competent job of rejigging their UI for the smaller screen on the Mini Pro. So, even before both were hit with 3rd party ROM's, the two X10 models in the house were different in look and feel. I'm now using the Sony Arc's launcher and it's quite good.
b0redom
I must admit though, I've bought into the whole Apple ecosystem, and it all plays nicely together, so I'm probably biased.
No, no - I wouldn't say that was ‘bias’. If anything that's a pretty solid justification for staying with iOS - you like the infrastructure and it's proven reliable for you. :D

Similarly, the patronising attitude I got from the local Apple Store; combined with many iTunes issues; and the prospect of the hoops I'd have to jump through to get an iPhone working with a Linux desktop; convinced me that iPhone wasn't a suitable choice personally.

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