Android’s marketshare is on the decline for the first time ever. Phones based on Google’s mobile operating system hit a snag in March… and it’s likely to continue in the U.S. when the iPhone 5 is released in September, says one analyst.
Android’s share of the U.S. smartphone market in March fell to 49.5 percent from 52.4 percent, according to IDC. By contrast, Apple’s share rose to 29.5 percent, up 12.3 percent during the same period. “This is just the beginning of Android’s share loss in the U.S.,” Needham’s Charlie Wolf claims. He forecasts more Verizon subscribers will switch to the iPhone when Apple launches in September the iPhone 5, a GSM and CDMA handset. Additionally, the Apple handset may also become available on Sprint and T-Mobile, meaning the device will be available to all U.S. subscribers, no matter the carrier.
What’s more, the September launch of the iPhone 5 could be the real test for Verizon. Wolf describes the initial launch in February as “tepid.” This also points to a reason why Apple did not announce the next iPhone at its WWDC in June, as the tech giant has done traditionally. To unveil the new iPhone then would have “upset Verizon subscribers” who just bought the iPhone 4, according to the analyst.
What do you think? Can Apple really reclaim market dominance with their one phone to rule them all, or is this a fluke and will Android quickly claw its way back?
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.
