Google’s Android system has marked its presence on a plethora of mobile devices today. According to a survey conducted by NPD, Q2 of 2010 saw smartphones running on the Android system surging in the U.S. consumer mobile phone market. It also indicates that this platform moved ahead amongst other operating systems.
As per the research, since Q4 2007, RIM had been ahead but this time it has declined to second position with 28% market share followed by Apple with 22%. Android takes the lead with 33% of market share. Based on U.S. consumer purchases of mobile phones in Q2, the survey listed the top 5 smartphones as the Motorola Droid, HTC Droid Incredible, HTC EVO 4G, HTC Hero and HTC Droid Eris.
Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD, explained, “For the second consecutive quarter, Android handsets have shown strong but slowing sell-through market share gains among U.S. consumers. While the Google-developed OS took market share from RIM, Apple’s iOS saw a small gain this quarter on the strength of the iPhone 4 launch.”
The research claims that selection of handset models and promotions continue to play a vital role in the long run for carrier dominance. As per the Mobile Phone Track, in Q2 2010, Verizon Wireless wins the race with 33% unit sales in the U.S. mobile phone market. On the other hand, AT&T stands at 25%, Sprint at 12% and T-Mobile read at 11% in terms of selling units. In the same quarter, Verizon Wireless continued to shell out handsets with its buy-one-get-one (BOGO) schemes on all smartphones which include RIM and Android as well.
Rubin further continued, “Blackberry 6 will soon offer features that have been popular in recently launched Android handsets, such as support for capacitive touchscreens and a WebKit-based browser. However, the Blackberry Torch lacks the large screen allure that has characterized the best selling Android devices at its price point, including the Droid Incredible and EVO 4G.”
The survey further claimed that although there’s an overall fall in purchase of mobile phones year over year, the demand for smartphones and messaging phones rises. It goes on to state that even if the prices of these devices are slightly high when compared to simple feature phones, the demand will remain the same. $90 is known to be the average selling price for all mobile phones and has grown by 3% since Q2 2009. In Q2 2010, unit prices of smartphones were an average of $143 which saw a fall of 9% in comparison to the previous year.
The research concluded that although Blackberry and iPhone are known to be releasing a wide range of smartphones with unimaginable features, the demand for Android-based handsets seem to continue capturing the mobile market.