It’s now a two-way race for control of the U.S. smartphone market and long-time No. 2 player Research in Motion finds itself being lapped by Apple.
The iPhone maker took second place during the May quarter, iOS increasing its share to 26.6 percent, while the BlackBerry maker fell to No. 3, shedding 4.2 percent to 24.7 percent. Android remains in first place in the U.S. smartphone market with 38.1 percent, according to market researcher comScore.
Along with success in smartphone platforms, the Cupertino, Calif. company also showed hardware gains in an otherwise flat or depressed market. Apple gained 1.2 percent, rising to 8.7 percent from 7.5 percent. Meanwhile, the tech giant’s latest courtroom nemesis, Samsung – the market leader – displayed no growth, the report announced. In fact, LG was the only non-iOS or non-Android handset that grew at all…but only at a fractional 0.2 percent.
Today’s report is just the latest sign Apple is making headway against Android in the United States. Earlier, a report found the iPhone was preferred by new U.S. smartphone buyers over Android. The surge coincided with the addition of Verizon Wireless offering the Apple handset. The news prompted some experts to believe Google’s initial domestic market growth was due to lack of iPhone availability, rather than inherent consumer demand for Android.
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.
16 responses to “Apple Grabs No. 2 Spot from RIM for U.S. Smartphone Sales”
It’s weird isn’t it. We can compare Apple and RIM (and other makes) but Android is always lumped in there but they are only a platform – no hardware. It’s taking dozens of OEMs to take the lead from 2 companies who between them have a very small product offering. Can’t someone do a funky infographic an all this number fun?
agree, this is all I want. I constantly hear that Android has a much larger share, and Apple is gaining, and samsung sold 3x as many HANDSETS as apple. I just want a no-bull smartphone by manufacturer breakdown. I feel I see 3x as many iphone as samsung, HTC or LG androids. An added bonus would be the top 10 smart phones by model, i.e. iPhone 4, Evo, Droid Excalibur or whatever
Nielsen came out with a report that said that Android was preferred over iOS.
Its really interesting that one place, you can read one thing, and if you go somewhere else, you can read the complete opposite.
I think that should be “overtaken”, not “lapped”.
Sorry, I’m in a pedantic mood.
“Today’s report is just the latest sign Apple is making headway against
Android in the United States.”
NONSENSE!
Did you even READ the report? Google had more than 3 times the growth of Apple.
I know this site is the “Cult of Mac,” but resorting to falsehoods is absurd.
Apple isn’t making headway against Android. The iPhone shipped in June 2007 and was available through a single US carrier. Until early 2011, it was a single-carrier device in its home market. Android launched in late 2008, has been available through all carriers, and fragmented almost immediately. Android is the one making headway against Apple – not vice versa – and the big question is how many Android and iPhone users will switch platforms after two years. The true test isn’t initial sales, but platform loyalty, and that’s always been an Apple strength.
Depends on what numbers you want to compare. The PC vs. Mac always use the OS numbers because comparing what HP sold to Apple does not make sense. And Apple has proven that the money is not in the hardware but in the ecosystem.
Actually, according to NPD and IDC, Android lost 6% smartphone marketshare in the USA last quarter while Apple surged 42%.
Android is plateauing having dropped to only 3% growth in the March quarter versus 7.5% the previous quarter and 9.5% in the September quarter.
Apple now is the number one smartphone manufacturer in the USA.
In addition ComScore reports that the *active* iOS installed base is 59% larger than Android in the USA and 116% larger in Europe.
-Mart