Study: Droid Takes Data Hog Prize from iPhone

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iphone_v_android

For some time, the iPhone has been saddled with the award for data hog. So much so, data usage has become an excuse by AT&T to explain poor network performance and a recent cap on data usage by iPhone owners. But it turns out the iPhone is second to Verizon’s Droid, a new study released Wednesday indicates.

According to a report by Validas, Verizon’s non-Blackberry smartphones consumed 421MB per month compared to 338MB for AT&T’s iPhone. The study analyzed consumer bills from 2009 and 2010. The 2009-2010 Wireless Data Study “provides year-over-year trends and detailed distribution charts segmented by device and by carrier, providing unique insight into the explosive growth of wireless data, which carriers are benefitting most from it, and which user and device groups are most driving it,” notes the study.


Although the study does not mention the Droid by name, it reasonably could be the only smartphone offered by Verizon that could rack up such data usage. Indeed, just last week Verizon announced the new Droid X used five times as much data than any other phone it carried.

Additionally, the study pointed to several trends. Data usage grew to 53 percent (up from 43 percent) of all subscribers between 2009 and 2010. Mean data usage per user rose from 96.8 MB to 145.8MB over the same period.

In related developments, Motorola, maker of the Droid X, used the latest iPhone 4 antenna upset to attack Apple. “No Jacket Required” declared the handset maker appearing in today’s New York Times. “At Motorola, we believe a customer shouldn’t have to dress up their phone for it to work properly. That’s why the DROID X comes with a dual antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like to make crystal clear calls without a bulky phone jacket.” The ad took direct aim at Apple’s recent decision to give free handset cases to iPhone 4 owners who experience dropped calls due to the new antenna design.

[Fortune and 9to5Mac]

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