Remember the images of Android as unstoppable? Uh, it’s slowing down. Seems someone threw an iPhone 4S on the tracks and derailed the growth of the Google mobile operating system among new smartphone buyers. After the iPhone 4S’ October release, Android’s popularity with new phone buyers dropped from 61.1 percent to 46.9 percent.
The key is tracking so-called recent acquirers, or people who’ve bought a smartphone within the last three months. Nielsen discovered that Apple went from 25.1 percent of new acquirers in October to 44.5 percent in December. “The high-profile launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S in the Fall had an enormous impact on the proportion of smartphone owners who chose an Apple iPhone,” the measurement firm announced.
The firm also said 60 percent of consumers who bought a handset over the past three months chose a smartphone instead of a feature phone.
Nielsen’s figures of a slowing Android lead is mirrored by Millennial Media, which tracks operating systems used to request mobile advertising. In December, requests from iOS-based devices steadily rose from October’s 28 percent to 30 percent in November. By contrast, mobile ad requests from Android-based devices slid from 56 percent in October to 50 percent in November.
The numbers appear to indicate as more mobile consumers move from standard feature phones to more powerful smartphones (a migration helped by carriers lusting after data plans), Apple grows stronger. Indeed, ChangeWave Research found half of smartphone buyers said they will pick the iPhone. Along with more U.S. carriers, the iPhone is also becoming available in more countries, further eroding Android’s lead.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
66 responses to “iPhone 4S’s Release Destroyed Android’s Lead Over iOS”
I thought market share wasn’t important to Apple and their fans?
maybe it’s better you don’t think?
Oh, you mean like a mindless iSheep?
Everyone wants an iPhone but when you ask why most say “I dunno cuz its cool and has cool apps”
90% of Android owners would have bought an iPhone if they could afford one. that simple!
More iPhones sold means more Siri issues.
Sounds like a good reason to me! It’s cool and has cool apps. Yeap, I’ll buy one!
That’s honestly the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time.
16GB 4s is $199.
32GB is $299
Galaxy Nexus is $299 and has LTE (and NFC, HD screen, etc)
You are proof that iSheep are not only blind but stupid too
you’re clearly american. nothing more needs to be said.
btw, check prices in Europe/Asia and be amazed!
Sure. Then you ask more questions like:
1. Would you like free turn by turn GPS directions?
2. Would you like an HD screen and resolution like your HDTV?
3. Would you like to pay for stuff with your phone?
4. Would you like to unlock your phone with your face?
5. Would you like to have Widgets that give you live information?
Yeah? Well sorry you can’t do any of that with an iPhone. Sorry.
“4. Would you like [somebody else] to unlock your phone with [a picture of] your face?”
Fixed it for you.
Yup – I’m truly amazed alright.
At how stupid you are for buying it so highly priced. Another American company ripping you off and they surely thank you!
Now go back to the meadow with the rest of the iSheep
1. What’s the point? I want a proper GPS on my phone, not some shitty maps. btw, 15€, wow, i’m broke now!
2. yea, that’s why i own a TV..
3. wow, like you have stores accepting that sort of payment pretty much everywhere! life changing!!!
4. why, don’t you have fingers?
5. i have those on the notification center and quite a few free apps doing that..
dude, buying an iPhone or an Android is an option! I own an iPhone and advised 2 different persons just last month to buy Android phones. What’s wrong with you?
you go around calling iSheep to people but you’re more of a sheep than anyone I see posting comments on this news.
Sure. For a month.. Then all of the Fandroid phones are sold for $1 on Amazon. You are proof that Goofans are worse than iSheep and twice as stoopid.
Its easier to hack into your iToy then it is for a STRANGER to find a picture of me to hack into my phone. Please, jackass.
The one person who has photos of me is my wife – so its fine if she wants to get into my phone.
iSheep frolicking around the meadow I see.
You forgot #6: Would you like to have a device that will NOT let you get more than a few hours away from a charger running all your widgets, HD screen, blah blah… And since when did any Android device have a screen that was like my HDTV which is 65″?
Which market is this? US, UK, China, Global?
#7: Would you like to see your $299 Android device outdated and on Amazon for $1 in about a month from release?
#8: Would you like to have a device that you can sell in year for more than you paid for it? Better not get and Android.
G0d you iSheep are so blind and uneducated yet you feel the need to fire away.
HD means a display with a highly dense resolution, the Galaxy Nexus has THE SAME RESOLUTION as an HDTV.
Read that slowly and see if it sinks in. Idiot.
#9: Would you like a smartphone that isn’t subject to massive amounts of spyware, malware, and crappy adware and have smooth, well thought out apps? Better not get an Android…
Yeah price cuts and cheaper used prices are definitely bad for consumers.
Stupid capitalism.
G0d the hits keep on coming today eh
Yeah price cuts are bad, you’re right.
Our market economy needs to go.
/s
Yeah, dumbass. Cause that’s so much better than all the Asian companies ripping you off for cheap Android hardware and charging you for software they get for FREE.. lol
That is propaganda security companies are spreading to try to make themselves relevant in the mobile space.
My apps runs just as good or better than on iOS. Weak argument.
PRICE CUT? That’s not a price cut. It means for a month they can sell it at thievery prices to the Goofanboys then they have to GIVE IT AWAY to dump the rest…
Dumping unsold stock is not a price cut.
What are you talking about? Everyone makes cheap knockoffs of everything, ESPECIALLY iOS devices.
How ’bout those dumb asses buying I pads made out of clay?
Again, you have no idea how clueless you are
like the PC. you have to do something REALLY stupid to get malware/spyware… My family has had multiple PC’s for 15+ years. We only had 1 virus/malware and the reason for that was because someone did something EXTREMELY stupid. Other than that, not a single issue.
Funny, I keep seeing iPhone 4S users running to outlets far more often than Android users.
You can name call all you want but you haven’t made one valid point yet. Price cuts are different than having to have a FIRE SALE on unsold crap the fanboys didn’t jump all over a few weeks before…
You mean stupid like buying an Android in the first place because I can see you point there…
You’re right – all consumers buying other products other than Android phones are completely protected from retailers
Riiiiiiiiiiiight, sure they are.
Actually I don’t want any Of those useless things on my phone.all my friends have androids and by plural I mean they probably have 5 or so pieces of shit that broke after a few months.prices aren’t that far off but I’d rather spend the few extra dollars to get quality douchebag
Funny they don’t seem to be spreading that “propaganda” on any other devices like WP7, Blackberry, or iOS. Maybe that’s because unlike Android, they are actually secure platforms. But don’t ask me, I’ve only been in IT security for banking for 17 years…
It’s called choice – if the price of a crappy Android phone drops to $1 on Amazon that it sucks.
Consumers need to educate themselves. This isn’t a new concept.
no, not the iSheep – they like their hands held and told what to do on everything.
You are a moron. I’m saying that the only reason Android has the marketshare that they do is that they have to, in a fairly short amount of time, give away even the most expensive of their devices to get people to want them. If you have EVER paid more than $99 for any Android, regardless of specs, you are a fool.
Okay
WP7 – 1% market share
BB – geezers use it or don’t even know what to do with it – have you surfed a web site on a WAP browser? Malware wouldn’t even work on it
iOS – closed tighter than a catholic schoolgirl’s legs
What’s your point??
Funny, Mac users said the same thing for years until people woke up and realized that no one wrote malware for Macs until they were relevant.
well it’s one of the multiple options you can use to log in on your phone. That means it’s not the ONLY way to log in. Plus if your phone was stolen/misplaced, it’s highly unlikely that the person who finds it or takes it has a photo like you.
Funny, you can pick up FREE iphones as well!
Funny, because i see 4s owners running for their chargers far more than 4 or 3Gs owners.
What’s your point?
No you don’t. I despise people like you that have to make up personal anecdotes to try and sound relevant to a conversation… Even the Goofan community acknowledges the horrible life of the Android device but they excuse it because of all the mighty WIDGETS…
I have used every device you can think of and the only Android device I’ve ever seen the battery last more than a day on one charged was turned off..
Wrong. Again.
The reason for the spike in market share is because Android is open. Google not only gave away Android for free, in some cases, they paid OEMs to ship their phones with it. It has nothing to do with quality.
Your own poster boy Woz even said how nice Android is.
wake up
You can talk trash when you see an LTE iPhone.
whenever that will be.
Android is only open to the manufactures. Not to you dummy. And that’s so that can put their own shitware on it. I could care less what Woz uses. I use what works for me. Woz uses a Mac as well. You going to dump what you use for Mac because Woz uses it?
And you call me the sheep… lol
First of all, you know less about Catholic School Girls legs than you do about OSes. Marketshare of the WP7 is not relevant to the discussion. If marketshare is the point, then Android must bow to iOS based on recent sales figures. Which by the way are actual SOLD units and not the bullshit UNITS SHIPPED that Android uses..
1. Yeah, I got that app! It’s called Waze.
2. HDTV on a ~4″ screen? No need for that, but my iPhone comes pretty darned close.
3. Yep. I do it every day.
4. Why would I want to do that? I can unlock my phone with my thumb just fine and far more reliably, thanks.
5. Kinda, but not if it will drain my battery.
I also want a phone with console-quality games, multitouch that actually works, seamless performance, has a clean UI, is devoid of malware and which won’t be obsoleted by the manufacture in a matter of weeks.
Oh yes I do. Matter of fact, about every 4S owner I know, turns off their wi-fi, and whatever can suck battery power, to get through the day. Even Woz confirms that the 4S sucks battery life like no other.
It’s hilarious. I have friends with Droid RAZR’s, Galaxy Nexus, and I never hear them complaining about battery life. Matter of fact, I don’t hear any android user (really) complaining about battery life. It seems to be 90% the iPhone users.
Android’s only open to OEMs? REALLY?
http://source.android.com/
Android’s only open to OEM? Are you serious?
Open your browser (you do know what that is don’t you?) and navigate to source . android . com
(since posts with links get blocked).
Yes, you are an iSheep. A blind ignoramus
http://marketingland.com/for-c…
Done arguing with fanboy idiots.
That even the 4S has better battery life and ANY Android phone. At least one that it turned on. The only thing your statement proves is that the iPhone 4 and under have better batter life than the 4S, not that Android devices have superior battery life.
I can give you the facts but they are easy enough to Google. But I’m sure if facts are as foreign to you as good battery life on your phone.
WP7 market share is so freaking low, why make it for WP7 when it has like less than 1%?
BB is a dying platform. And you could say that BB also has the most “business” secured platform, so naturally it will be lower than the rest.
Windows (desktops) has far more viruses, malware, etc.. than OS X. But, matter of fact, the most current version of windows is MORE secure than OS X. In reality OS X is far more vulnerable to virus, malware than Windows. But marketshare is what made Windows more pleasing to attack.
Secure platforms? How come has Android has been approved by the government (certain versions so far) that iOS or WP7 have not been approved for? Seems that if the government wanted the most secure, they would go with iOS and WP7. right? Since those MUST be far more secure than Android.
Truth is, Android is as secure as the others, if not far more secure than iOS or WP7.
If iOS and OS X were far more secure than Windows, why is (literally) the whole government Windows? Why is the government looking to deploy Android vs iOS to soldiers?
It’s because OS X and iOS are NOT the most secured platforms. In reality, they could be the least secured platform.
You can link to the facts on your statements or just keep making shit up… Everything you said I’ve seen data to the contrary and security is how I make my living.
Yes, it would be nice if we KNEW which version of android was govt approved, but even on that fact, you are wrong. They only approved the use of a Samsung Tab that was locked down to no end user app installation. That is ONE device out of how many thousands? RIM has been the only thing the govt blessed on a larger scale and that’s been with back end servers and handsets that the public does not have access too.
Why Windows has more marketshare has nothing to do with it’s security. As a matter of fact, most of the government server back bones are running UNIX and variations of BSD/Linus. Especially those that contain sensitive data. Windows is basically for end users AND they are only secure because they are locked down like nothing you’ve ever seen. I know because I work for a Federal bank.
So again, link to facts or at least stop comparing apples to oranges.
The problem with PCs isn’t that the users are stupid(though that doesn’t help), its that Windows is incredibly confusing and convoluted for non-tech-savvy people. MS doesn’t get that it’s not enough to just present a shiny little orb and call your OS accessible to the masses, you’ve got to design for accessibility at every level, lest people get lost whenever things take an unexpected turn.
It’s easy to fool PC users(occasionally, even tech savvy ones) into installing malware because they’re already accustomed to having to go through hoops to address problems they don’t even understand(and shouldn’t need to). There is no trust whatsoever between the user and the OS, so users are easily manipulated into trusting third parties, who may or may not have the user’s best interest at heart.
Did I strike a nerve?
I come here because I own a few iOS devices and also find you iSheep entertaining.
G0d you iSheep are so blind and uneducated yet you feel the need to fire away.HD means a display with a highly dense resolution, the Galaxy Nexus has THE SAME RESOLUTION as an HDTV.Read that slowly and see if it sinks in. Idiot.
windows isn’t incredibly confusing. The only people I hear complaining that windows is incredibly confusing are the mac users who will refuse to even touch a PC with a 10 foot pole. (everybody else? never complains it’s confusing)
Matter of fact, I can’t begin to tell you the amount of people who think OS X is confusing.
And installing malware? not a PC only problem. It hit mac as well. and some of the mac malware is (just) as good as the program it is pretending to be, so it’s not the loop and bounds. It’s how the malware presents itself.
Wrong. Again.The reason for the spike in market share is because Android is open. Google not only gave away Android for free, in some cases, they paid OEMs to ship their phones with it. It has nothing to do with quality.Your own poster boy Woz even said how nice Android is.wake up
What evidence do you have to support ANY of this?
How do you support the claim that Windows is more secure than OS X, when most experts will tell you that Lion is the most secure consumer OS on the market? Or that OS X is somehow “far more vulnerable to virus, malware than Windows”, despite never once having widespread malware epidemic? The truth is that Windows is vastly more vulnerable to malware than OS X. Whether the cause is marketshare or poor security is totally irrelevant.
It is absolutely not true that the whole US government is using Windows. I would know, as I am an IT consultant contracted by the government. You won’t find a stock Windows installation anywhere. Most servers are running some flavor of *nix.
There may be some truth to the government looking to deploy Android to soldiers, but the Army has already spent millions on iPads and is already using them.
OS X and iOS might NOT be the most secured platforms, but they are absolutely not the LEAST secured platform. Such a statement is completely void of support.
Wrong. Again.The reason for the spike in market share is because Android is open. Google not only gave away Android for free, in some cases, they paid OEMs to ship their phones with it. It has nothing to do with quality.Your own poster boy Woz even said how nice Android is.wake up
Funny, I’m on day 3 on a single charge on my 4S. My work phone is a Galaxy Nexus, and I had to put it on the charger after about four hours or usage today. I even bought a spare battery because I’m worried that it’s going to screw me at some point.
As someone who has been using Android for three years and only recently switched to iOS, I can comfortably say that you are completely full of shit.
I’ve hung out in Android forums, talked friends into buying Android phones, and nearly everyone I’ve talked to would agree that battery life on Android phones is abysmal. Ask any Android user on the street what their #1 complaint is about Android, and I can practically guarantee you that the response would overwhelmingly be “battery life”.
I know plenty of people that have to charge their 6-month-old smartphone twice a day, and none of them are iPhone users.
Lastly, no one should turn off WiFi to save battery power, as WiFi consumes considerably less resources than 3G.
truth
I work in IT. I’d be out of a job if Windows weren’t confusing. Maybe it doesn’t confuse you, but it confuses and frustrates the hell out of the average Joe who just wants to do his job. They bitch to me about it every single day, and they have for 15+ years. Funny thing is, our offices are slowly migrating over to Macs, and they get about one fifth as many support calls per machine as their Windows counterparts. I honestly might have to let some people on my team go as a result.
According to Kaspersky Labs, over 800,000,000 million Windows PCs were subjected to malware attacks in November. For OS X, they claim the number is in the DOZENS. There is absolutely no question that OS X is a safer OS, even if its only the result of fewer attempted attacks.
I’m not uneducated, and I’m certainly not blind.
The thing about the 4S display vs. the Galaxy Nexus display is that they have the EXACT same number of subpixels.So, what does that mean, exactly? It means that while the Nexus has a greater resolution and larger screen, it can afford this at the cost of drastically lower pixel accuracy. So, while it is true that the Nexus has 720p resolution, the 4S’ display provides a crisper, more accurate representation.
Hilarious. I have hung out with Android users since the first adopters. I have yet to hear one single complaint via battery life from any of them. Yet, I have heard countless of complaints from iPhone 4S users about how they cannot even get through the day. And those who switched from previous generations to the 4S, says the 4S sucks far more battery than the earlier version.