iOS and Android prepare to Square Off

Apple versus Google, in the steel cage.

Nov 2 2010, 4:24am CDT | by Robert Evans

The early days of the computing revolution were defined by the rivalry between Mac and PC. Likewise, the mobile revolution will be a battle primarily between two great opposing forces- Apple and Google. At least, that is one of the conclusions you can draw by data Canalys and the NPD group reported.

First off, Android is now the leading US consumer smartphone platform. It runs 44% of all smartphones, an bump of 11 percentage points since Q2 of 2010. iOS stands at 23%, a rise of just a single percentage point. RIM is down from 28% to 22%. Android is primarily eating its new share from BlackBerry- but it is easy to see that the green robot is slowing Apple down.

Android is ahead in total shipments too. Apple devices accounted for 26.2% of the US smartphone market this quarter. Open Handset Alliance devices made up 43.6%. While Nokia is still the number one smartphone OS vendor worldwide, Android devices are what is pushing the global smartphone market forward. Sales are up 1,309% year-on-year.

In Q3 2009, 1.4 million Android handsets were sold. In Q3 2010, 20 million Android smartphones were sold. Apple's iPhone 4 is the highest selling smartphone in the US, but two of the other top five devices were Android devices. Since only four of those devices were smartphones, the Android's achievement is all the more impressive.

I wouldn't say this is dire news for Apple, but it certainly looks like Android and iOS are headed for a direct clash. Within the next quarter or two, you're going to see those share numbers drop for iOS...unless Apple does something to stop the Android juggernaut in its tracks.

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Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.